Buzz Bands becomes part of Soundboard

Buzz Bands, as the spiffy graphic would imply, is moving. It's now part of SOUNDBOARD, The Times' new group music blog that will feature a lot of people writing about a lot of things, some of them even bands that buzz. To the folks around Los Angeles (and occasionally elsewhere) who followed along with my scribblings the past 15 months, thank you.

Readers, adjust thy bookmarks. Meet SOUNDBOARD.

-- Kevin Bronson

 

Name yourself after rehab -- they said no, no, no ...

That's what Hazelden is finding. The L.A. rock quartet last week heard from a Minnesota-based law firm representing the prominent drug and alcohol treatment facility Hazelden. Would the band please change its name?

"I'm not sure what we're going to do yet," says front woman Mary Jane Snow, who says the band is named for Hedley Hazelden (1915-2001), a highly decorated World War II airman and test pilot [pictured above, with Hazelden]. Snow says her unsigned band can't afford legal representation. The foursome just released its initial EP.

Seems to me a lot of bands are having trouble with their names recently; it's obvious from the existence of RSI-inducing names like WFANFC and SSLYBY that all the good band names are taken. Afternoons -- the local outfit helmed by members of Irving -- might be looking for a new moniker because of the almost-forgotten Welsh band from a couple decades ago called the Afternoons. The L.A. band Muso recently renamed itslef Les Blanks because of trademark issues. And the Switch switched to Le Switch last year after finding that Switches were a dime a dozen.

We'll see about Hazelden -- for now, Snow says, her band is preparing for Sunday night's big show at the House of Blues Anaheim. The quartet is opening for the New York Dolls.

Other highlights for the weekend, March 7-9

Tonight: Delta Spirit, picking up steam on the strength of its great late-'07 release "Ode to Sunshine," headline the Troubadour, with the Virgins and Port O'Brien (nice album coming May 13) also on the bill. ... Youngsters the Jakes and Billy Boy on Poison head up a big bill at the Roxy. ... Division Day and the A-Sides are at Spaceland. ... Cool Kiwis Die! Die! Die! play the Echo. ... Why? and Yacht play at the Natural History Museum's First Fridays shindig. ... And Rademacher is squeezing into Pehrspace.

Saturday night: Liam Finn and the Heavenly States play at Spaceland, though Pela has had to drop off the bill because of a hand injury sustained by its guitarist. ... The Dodos play the Silverlake Lounge (it's a 4:30 p.m. early show). ... Whispertown 2000 plays El Cid, while LoveLikeFire comes back into town for a show at Bordello that includes Light FM. ... And there's a cool Air Don't Sleep show at Crash Mansion.

Sunday night: Travis Sullivan's Bjorkestra is quite a spectacle -- the band plays Safari Sam's. ... And Big Business is at Spaceland, with the Cops.

Talk about a roller-coaster month.

The Little Ones gained a little one in January -- and the Los Angeles quintet lost their record deals in the EMI corporate reorganization. "It was the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows," says singer-guitarist Ed Reyes, who with wife Jenny became parents of a son, Nolan, on Jan. 31. Only a week earlier, the band was told it was being let go from its contracts with EMI imprints Heavenly (in the U.K.) and Astralwerks (in the U.S.).

They're regrouping. Later today, the band will announce a nationwide tour beginning in April with Syracuse, N.Y., sextet Ra Ra Riot -- a jaunt that will coincide with the debut of a new, self-released EP titled "Terry Tales & Fallen Gates."

"It's full circle for us -- we're back to where we were in April 2006 with 'Sing Song,'" Reyes says, referring to the debut EP that helped put the band's upbeat pop on the map.

"Whenever you're rejected by anything in life, it hurts. I'd be lying if I said we weren't disappointed. But it's a new day -- like anything, you have to roll with the punches," Reyes says. "The funny thing is, it never even felt to us like we were signed to a major [label], since both Heavenly and Astralwerks feel like indies."

As part of the separation, the Little Ones were given back the masters for their completed album, "Morning Tide," which originally was due to be released in April. The six songs on the new EP were recorded during the "Morning Tide" sessions but were not slated to be on the album. The band hopes to release it straight to iTunes, with physical copies available at shows.

||| Live: The Little Ones play a headlining date at the Troubadour on May 15, and are at the Glass House the next night with Ra Ra Riot.

||| Download: The intended first single from "Morning Tide," "Ordinary Song," as well as a remix of that song, at the band's MySpace site.

Local miscellany: The cinematic quality to Dengue Fever's sound makes it a natural for music videos. Here's the latest from the band's third album, "Venus on Earth." The track is titled "Seeing Hands":

Elsewhere: That sold-out Hot Chip show that was postponed Feb. 4 (at the El Rey) has been rescheduled for April 28 -- and it's at the Mayan. No on-sale date has been announced for the additional tickets yet; tickets for the original show will be honored... Locally famous folkies and Jenny Lewis collaborators the Watson Twins are now aligned with Vanguard Records and have a debut album, "Fire Songs," coming June 24. ... Midnight Movies are back with a new EP, "Nights," out digitally on Tuesday (check out "Should Have Known" on MySpace.

Highlights for tonight, March 6

Local dream-rock quintet Twilight Sleep celebrates the release of its new EP, "Race to the Bottom of the Sea," with a show tonight at the Echo that also features Karin Tatoyan and Restaurant. ... Brooklyn psych-rock quartet My Best Fiend, whose album of tuneful neuroses reminds you of stuff like Pink Floyd and Clinic, plays the first of a two-night stand in L.A. at the Viper Room. (The band is at the Echo on Friday.)  Also teeing it up on the good Viper Room bill tonight: Gran Ronde, Reeve Carney and the Daylights. ... Big goings-on at the Forum, where the Foo Fighters and Against Me! perform. ... The Junior Boys are doing a DJ set at Spaceland, where Troy This is playing. ... The Start kicks off a residency at Crash Mansion. ... And local quartet the Hanks mark the release of their sophomore album, "Distance," with a show at the Knitting Factory.

The Police, with Elvis Costello and the Imposters, have added a second show at the Hollywood Bowl. With the bill's May 27 date sold out, the added show will go off on May 28. Tickets ($304.50, $154.50, $99.50 and $54.50) go on sale at 10 a.m. Sunday.

It'll make for a busy week for veteran rock acts at the Bowl -- the Police/Costello on Tuesday and Wednesday, R.E.M. (which does not appear on th Bowl's calendar but is listed on the band's tour itinerary) on Thursday, May 29, and the Cure on Saturday, May 31.

Earlimart's announcement this morning on its MySpace website couldn't have come as more of a surprise -- the band has a new album finished and slated for release on July 1.

"It's done, in the can and delivered," front man Aaron Espinoza says of "Hymn & Her," which will be released on Majordomo (an imprint of Shout! Factory) less than a year after the group's first album for that imprint, last August's "Mentor Tormentor." "We just want to be relentless, keep making stuff."

"Mentor Tormentor" was more than two years in the making, but after touring behind that record Espinoza got together with principal collaborator Ariana Murray. "I told her, 'It's just you and me, we're going to get an engineer, reserve the studio and record 10 songs.' ... We didn't want to do the whole wait-three-years-to-make-another-record thing," he says.

The engineer was versatile multi-instrumentalist Andrew Lynch, who also plays keyboards and brass on the album, the band's sixth. "He's a talented dude," Espinoza says. "We're lucky to have him."

No new songs posted yet, but I'll let you know.

Photo of Earlimart's Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray by Darrin Noble

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Another local note: Silversun Pickups debuted their new, Joaquin Phoenix-directed video for "Little Lover's So Polite" on MTV2. You can check it out here. Update: Here it is:

[Apologies for the protracted silence, folks. Been away on a family matter, complicated by a run-in with Mother Nature, but thankfully people like Classical Geek Theatre can clue me in on what I missed. I now attempt to lurch back into action:]

An injury sustained by singer Alice Glass has forced the postponement of eight show by Crystal Castles, including Sunday's gig at the Roxy. The Toronto disco-noise duo hope to be back in time for their gigs at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin starting March 14. Glass suffered two cracked ribs in an auto accident, Pitchfork reported.

The Roxy will be silent on Sunday night. It was initially reported in Crystal Castles' press release that local noise specialists Health, their tourmates, would play as scheduled, but a spokesperson for the venue said the show will be postponed entirely and rescheduled later, possibly in June.

Highlights for Tuesday, March 4

Had I not been otherwise occupied, I would have found time to sing the praises of the new album, titled "Get Awkward," by Be Your Own Pet. Punky and delicious, I say. And the Nashville quartet is opening for the Raveonettes tonight at the El Rey. ... The Mountain Goats kick off a two-night stand at the Troubadour. ... Jim Bianco's release party for the very good "Sing" is tonight at the Hotel Cafe -- and as a bonus, Nyles Lannon, Daniel Ahearn and Everest (acoustic) are also playing. ... Working for a Nuclear Free City rocks Cinespace. ... And the Vacation are on the bill at the Silverlake Lounge.

Photo of Crystal Castles by Stuart Pillinger

Presidential candidate John Edwards wasn't the only person moved by the story of Nataline Sarkisyan, the 17-year-old from Northridge who died in December of complications from leukemia and whose family's battles with its insurance carrier became headline news. Two local musicians, producer/beatmaker/lyricist ailment (Tony Barkodarian) and rapper/lyricist eye2eye (Mike Chakrian), were touched too.

"We didn't know Nataline personally, but I grew up in the same area and the whole story hit very close to home," says Barkodarian, a Northridge native who now lives in Glendale. "The best catchphrase I heard was 'murder by spreadsheet' -- that's exactly what it was."

After Sarkisyan's death, Chakrian posted some lyrics on MySpace, and upon seeing them Barkodarian was inspired to write a beat. The pair got together and recorded a song, "Nataline," and have made it available for download. Proceeds from the download ($1.99) go to the Sarkisyan family.

Learn more and download "Nataline" here.

Highlights for tonight, Feb. 20

Shane Alexander's album release show goes off tonight at the Troubadour. ... Halestorm rocks the Viper Room. ... And the Minor Canon and the Snow perform at Club NME at Spaceland.

I suppose it was inevitable that the Presidents of the United States of America would resurface this year. Could've sworn these guys broke up about 1998, but the bio tells me they've been back it full-time since 2004. Now comes the news that they have a new album "These Are the Good Times People" (what newspapers have they been reading?) due March 11 and they have re-teamed with "Weird Al" Yankovic for the video to its first single "Mixed Up S.O.B.," which you can hear here.

I mention this to note the strange whims of remembering the 1990s. PUSA sold millions of albums (4.5 million of their debut), and yet when the e-mail landed about their upcoming album, I could not remember a single one of their songs. The disposable nature of pop-punk? Possibly. The disposable nature of PUSA's pop-punk? Probably.

On the other hand, the news landed last week about another rock radio mainstay of that era, the newly reformed Filter. Richard Patrick and gang are back after five years ("Anthems for the Damned," due in May), and as soon as I saw the band's name in the subject field, "Hey Man, Nice Shot" lodged itself in my brain and simply would not go away for three days.

The big debuts by PUSA and Filter both came out in 1995, and each remains on my shelf at home. But only one remains in the inventory of my brain. Happens to you too? Please share (and, yes, take potshots at my musical tastes in 1995 all you want ...)

||| Live: PUSA plays March 19 at the House of Blues Anaheim and March 21 at the Roxy.

||| Live: Filter (no new songs on their MySpace yet) has no L.A.-area dates scheduled yet, but they're at the Casbah in San Diego on March 2.

Photo of Richard Patrick by Andrew Pinter

Highlights for Monday, Feb. 18

Dengue Fever headlines the Indie 103.1 night at the Viper Room. ... Film School plays the warm-up slot for the Pity Party's Spaceland residency. ... Robert Francis continues his Silverlake Lounge residency with guests Dawes (members of now-defunct Simon Dawes). ... Casket Salesmen and four other bands bring the rock at a free show at the Troubadour. ... And at the Echo, the Henry Clay People toast producer David Newton (who helmed their "Working Part Time" EP) by welcoming three other Newton-produced local bands onto the bill -- the Happy Hollows, Kissing Tigers and Death to Anders.

Easy as "1 2 3 4" -- Feist, the 31-year-old Canadian torch singer and Grammy nominee for best new artist, will be coming to the Hollywood Bowl for a headlining gig on July 20.  The Toronto native's striking chamber pop will be counterposed that evening by the stirring soul stylings of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. There's no on-sale date for tickets yet, and a third artist is likely to be added to the show.

The Bowl's pop/rock offerings are shaping up for the summer. Earlier this morning, a May 27 show featuring the Police and Elvis Costello and the Imposters was announced (tickets on sale Feb. 24). Mary J Blige and Jay-Z have an April 16 show; the Cure are scheduled for May 31; Sgt. Pepper's Revisited with Cheap Trick goes off June 20; Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers play on June 25; Gilbert Gil and Devendra Banhart team up on June 29; Gnarls Barkley parties on July 27; and UB40 pays a visit on Aug. 3.

Update: It's not on the Bowl's website yet, but it's on the band's: R.E.M. is playing the Bowl on May 29. And it should be pointed out that the Feist, Gil/Banhart, Barkley and UB40 shows are part of KCRW-FM's World Music series.

Photo of Feist playing KROQ-FM's Almost Acoustic Christmas show by Lawrence K. Ho / LAT

Our Charlie Amter has the scoop -- the Viper Room has been sold to Harry Morton.

Details at The Times' music blog, Soundboard.

Gary Folgner, whose Galaxy Concert Theatre will close at the end of the month when the Santa Ana space gives way to renovations for a mega-nightlcub, vows to return. "I think you'll see us pop up with another venue, maybe within a year," says Folgner, who runs the Coach House in southern Orange County but lost the lease on his central-county hub for live music. "We're in a funny market right now, with what's happening to real estate."

Certainly, what happened to the Galaxy's piece of real estate came as a surprise after Folgner's 13 years helming the club. "New guys came in, and they had more money than sin," he says. "It's a blow -- I didn't expect it to come down like that."

Punk rock and heavy metal music may be most affected, especially with the House of Blues Anaheim landlord -- the Walt Disney Co. -- excising certain harder-edged acts from the bills there. In fact, after the British band Gallows was dropped from an opening slot on a punk-rock bill there, the frontman of headlining Social Distortion, Mike Ness, told the crowd how nice it would be if the House of Blues could be picked up and moved to Costa Mesa, "so we could have a real venue." (Social D's brand of punk, apparently, passes muster; or could it be the long string of sold-out shows at HOBA?)

The Galaxy's final punk show promises to be a doozy -- Feb. 21 with TSOL, Agent Orange and D.I.

Highlights for Monday, Feb. 11

The Night Marchers, the new project of Rocket From the Crypt frontman John Reis, plays a show tonight at All-Star Lanes in Eagle Rock. ... Radars to the Sky and the Coral Sea highlight the Viper Room bill for Indie 103.1's "Check ... One, Two" show. ... Great Monday residencies continue, with Karin Tatoyan and Twilight Sleep supporting Spaceland residents the Pity Party, the Henry Clay People promising a night of covers and guest cameos at the Echo,  Tiffany Randol opening for Robert Francis at the Silverlake Lounge,  and Rickie Lee Jones holding forth a second week at the Echoplex.

Photo of the Henry clay People's Joey Siara by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Bear with me if this is old news to you -- it'll only take a second.

I wasn't aware until now that the Eels had attempted to buy a 1-second television ad during the Super Bowl to hawk its B-sides/rarities release. Super Bowl ads, after all, go for $100,000 per second, and that's about what the band could afford. It didn't quite work out.

But they made the ad anyway:

Up-to-the-minute coverage of the Grammys, courtesy of Todd Martens' live blog.

See Extended Play.

The Galaxy Concert Theatre, a staple of the live-music scene in Orange County for 13 years, is closing at the end of February, and new owners will debut an uber-nightclub in the Santa Ana space on June 1.

Gary Folgner, the Galaxy owner who also runs the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, could not immediately be reached for comment. The Galaxy's transition will not affect the Coach House.

A spokesperson for the Mor Project, a new restaurant/nightclub management group helmed by Anton Posniak, said the new, 25,000-square-foot club called RevolveR would cater to upscale clubgoers, offering multiple rooms of entertainment, myriad VIP areas, fireplaces, indoor/outdoor seating and eight full-service bars. Additionally, plans call for RevolveR's design theme to change every few months -- sort of a planned makeover.

The Mor Project is the same group behind soon-to-open venues the Rustic Vine (in the Irvine Spectrum) and the Irezumi Sushi Lounge in Costa Mesa.

-- With reporting from Charlie Amter

[This blogger is having a not-so-super Tuesday and is a little under the weather. Quickly and randomly:]

Headphones on. Here's the new video from New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers, who will be back in Los Angeles spreading doom and distortion on March 1 at Spaceland:

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Spent some spare change at iTunes today acquiring a new benefit CD titled "New Orleans: You're Not Alone." It's a joint effort of OK Go and the New Orleans brass band Bonerama (so named because of the four trombones in the band). Proceeds from the EP -- which features three OK Go songs reworked and two covers (including a cool version of David Bowie's "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide") -- benefit musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Feb. 5

The Harpeth Trace celebrates the release of its album, "On Disappearing" with a show at Safari Sam's -- Falling James in the LA Weekly captured what they do quite well in his preview here. ... Dance-rock trio Pop Noir kicks off its residency at the Key Club; Ari Shine and Maxeen are playing at the free, all-ages show as well. ... Over at the Troubadour, Black Mountain will play to a sold-out room. ... We Are Wolves rocks the Tuesday Cinespace party. ... And blasts-from-the-past Blue Cheer play the Knitting Factory.

Hot Chip's sold-out show tonight at the El Rey Theatre has been postponed due to illness. The British outfit played a show in New York on Saturday and apparently Felix Martin barely made it through that one, Brooklyn Vegan reported. A Goldenvoice spokesperson said tickets for tonight's show will be honored on the new date.

[The press release today from Beck's people:]

"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."

That is all. Enjoy your day.

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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

The Cold War Kids want their song back.

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.

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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:

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

Tickets are $35 through the festival websites Thursday and Friday, then $40 through Ticketmaster starting Saturday morning.

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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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

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Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

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Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

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Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

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2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

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Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

◊ ◊ ◊

Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

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Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

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Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Hazelden checks in -- to Hazelden's name

 

Name yourself after rehab -- they said no, no, no ...

That's what Hazelden is finding. The L.A. rock quartet last week heard from a Minnesota-based law firm representing the prominent drug and alcohol treatment facility Hazelden. Would the band please change its name?

"I'm not sure what we're going to do yet," says front woman Mary Jane Snow, who says the band is named for Hedley Hazelden (1915-2001), a highly decorated World War II airman and test pilot [pictured above, with Hazelden]. Snow says her unsigned band can't afford legal representation. The foursome just released its initial EP.

Seems to me a lot of bands are having trouble with their names recently; it's obvious from the existence of RSI-inducing names like WFANFC and SSLYBY that all the good band names are taken. Afternoons -- the local outfit helmed by members of Irving -- might be looking for a new moniker because of the almost-forgotten Welsh band from a couple decades ago called the Afternoons. The L.A. band Muso recently renamed itslef Les Blanks because of trademark issues. And the Switch switched to Le Switch last year after finding that Switches were a dime a dozen.

We'll see about Hazelden -- for now, Snow says, her band is preparing for Sunday night's big show at the House of Blues Anaheim. The quartet is opening for the New York Dolls.

Other highlights for the weekend, March 7-9

Tonight: Delta Spirit, picking up steam on the strength of its great late-'07 release "Ode to Sunshine," headline the Troubadour, with the Virgins and Port O'Brien (nice album coming May 13) also on the bill. ... Youngsters the Jakes and Billy Boy on Poison head up a big bill at the Roxy. ... Division Day and the A-Sides are at Spaceland. ... Cool Kiwis Die! Die! Die! play the Echo. ... Why? and Yacht play at the Natural History Museum's First Fridays shindig. ... And Rademacher is squeezing into Pehrspace.

Saturday night: Liam Finn and the Heavenly States play at Spaceland, though Pela has had to drop off the bill because of a hand injury sustained by its guitarist. ... The Dodos play the Silverlake Lounge (it's a 4:30 p.m. early show). ... Whispertown 2000 plays El Cid, while LoveLikeFire comes back into town for a show at Bordello that includes Light FM. ... And there's a cool Air Don't Sleep show at Crash Mansion.

Sunday night: Travis Sullivan's Bjorkestra is quite a spectacle -- the band plays Safari Sam's. ... And Big Business is at Spaceland, with the Cops.

Talk about a roller-coaster month.

The Little Ones gained a little one in January -- and the Los Angeles quintet lost their record deals in the EMI corporate reorganization. "It was the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows," says singer-guitarist Ed Reyes, who with wife Jenny became parents of a son, Nolan, on Jan. 31. Only a week earlier, the band was told it was being let go from its contracts with EMI imprints Heavenly (in the U.K.) and Astralwerks (in the U.S.).

They're regrouping. Later today, the band will announce a nationwide tour beginning in April with Syracuse, N.Y., sextet Ra Ra Riot -- a jaunt that will coincide with the debut of a new, self-released EP titled "Terry Tales & Fallen Gates."

"It's full circle for us -- we're back to where we were in April 2006 with 'Sing Song,'" Reyes says, referring to the debut EP that helped put the band's upbeat pop on the map.

"Whenever you're rejected by anything in life, it hurts. I'd be lying if I said we weren't disappointed. But it's a new day -- like anything, you have to roll with the punches," Reyes says. "The funny thing is, it never even felt to us like we were signed to a major [label], since both Heavenly and Astralwerks feel like indies."

As part of the separation, the Little Ones were given back the masters for their completed album, "Morning Tide," which originally was due to be released in April. The six songs on the new EP were recorded during the "Morning Tide" sessions but were not slated to be on the album. The band hopes to release it straight to iTunes, with physical copies available at shows.

||| Live: The Little Ones play a headlining date at the Troubadour on May 15, and are at the Glass House the next night with Ra Ra Riot.

||| Download: The intended first single from "Morning Tide," "Ordinary Song," as well as a remix of that song, at the band's MySpace site.

Local miscellany: The cinematic quality to Dengue Fever's sound makes it a natural for music videos. Here's the latest from the band's third album, "Venus on Earth." The track is titled "Seeing Hands":

Elsewhere: That sold-out Hot Chip show that was postponed Feb. 4 (at the El Rey) has been rescheduled for April 28 -- and it's at the Mayan. No on-sale date has been announced for the additional tickets yet; tickets for the original show will be honored... Locally famous folkies and Jenny Lewis collaborators the Watson Twins are now aligned with Vanguard Records and have a debut album, "Fire Songs," coming June 24. ... Midnight Movies are back with a new EP, "Nights," out digitally on Tuesday (check out "Should Have Known" on MySpace.

Highlights for tonight, March 6

Local dream-rock quintet Twilight Sleep celebrates the release of its new EP, "Race to the Bottom of the Sea," with a show tonight at the Echo that also features Karin Tatoyan and Restaurant. ... Brooklyn psych-rock quartet My Best Fiend, whose album of tuneful neuroses reminds you of stuff like Pink Floyd and Clinic, plays the first of a two-night stand in L.A. at the Viper Room. (The band is at the Echo on Friday.)  Also teeing it up on the good Viper Room bill tonight: Gran Ronde, Reeve Carney and the Daylights. ... Big goings-on at the Forum, where the Foo Fighters and Against Me! perform. ... The Junior Boys are doing a DJ set at Spaceland, where Troy This is playing. ... The Start kicks off a residency at Crash Mansion. ... And local quartet the Hanks mark the release of their sophomore album, "Distance," with a show at the Knitting Factory.

The Police, with Elvis Costello and the Imposters, have added a second show at the Hollywood Bowl. With the bill's May 27 date sold out, the added show will go off on May 28. Tickets ($304.50, $154.50, $99.50 and $54.50) go on sale at 10 a.m. Sunday.

It'll make for a busy week for veteran rock acts at the Bowl -- the Police/Costello on Tuesday and Wednesday, R.E.M. (which does not appear on th Bowl's calendar but is listed on the band's tour itinerary) on Thursday, May 29, and the Cure on Saturday, May 31.

Earlimart's announcement this morning on its MySpace website couldn't have come as more of a surprise -- the band has a new album finished and slated for release on July 1.

"It's done, in the can and delivered," front man Aaron Espinoza says of "Hymn & Her," which will be released on Majordomo (an imprint of Shout! Factory) less than a year after the group's first album for that imprint, last August's "Mentor Tormentor." "We just want to be relentless, keep making stuff."

"Mentor Tormentor" was more than two years in the making, but after touring behind that record Espinoza got together with principal collaborator Ariana Murray. "I told her, 'It's just you and me, we're going to get an engineer, reserve the studio and record 10 songs.' ... We didn't want to do the whole wait-three-years-to-make-another-record thing," he says.

The engineer was versatile multi-instrumentalist Andrew Lynch, who also plays keyboards and brass on the album, the band's sixth. "He's a talented dude," Espinoza says. "We're lucky to have him."

No new songs posted yet, but I'll let you know.

Photo of Earlimart's Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray by Darrin Noble

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Another local note: Silversun Pickups debuted their new, Joaquin Phoenix-directed video for "Little Lover's So Polite" on MTV2. You can check it out here. Update: Here it is:

[Apologies for the protracted silence, folks. Been away on a family matter, complicated by a run-in with Mother Nature, but thankfully people like Classical Geek Theatre can clue me in on what I missed. I now attempt to lurch back into action:]

An injury sustained by singer Alice Glass has forced the postponement of eight show by Crystal Castles, including Sunday's gig at the Roxy. The Toronto disco-noise duo hope to be back in time for their gigs at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin starting March 14. Glass suffered two cracked ribs in an auto accident, Pitchfork reported.

The Roxy will be silent on Sunday night. It was initially reported in Crystal Castles' press release that local noise specialists Health, their tourmates, would play as scheduled, but a spokesperson for the venue said the show will be postponed entirely and rescheduled later, possibly in June.

Highlights for Tuesday, March 4

Had I not been otherwise occupied, I would have found time to sing the praises of the new album, titled "Get Awkward," by Be Your Own Pet. Punky and delicious, I say. And the Nashville quartet is opening for the Raveonettes tonight at the El Rey. ... The Mountain Goats kick off a two-night stand at the Troubadour. ... Jim Bianco's release party for the very good "Sing" is tonight at the Hotel Cafe -- and as a bonus, Nyles Lannon, Daniel Ahearn and Everest (acoustic) are also playing. ... Working for a Nuclear Free City rocks Cinespace. ... And the Vacation are on the bill at the Silverlake Lounge.

Photo of Crystal Castles by Stuart Pillinger

Presidential candidate John Edwards wasn't the only person moved by the story of Nataline Sarkisyan, the 17-year-old from Northridge who died in December of complications from leukemia and whose family's battles with its insurance carrier became headline news. Two local musicians, producer/beatmaker/lyricist ailment (Tony Barkodarian) and rapper/lyricist eye2eye (Mike Chakrian), were touched too.

"We didn't know Nataline personally, but I grew up in the same area and the whole story hit very close to home," says Barkodarian, a Northridge native who now lives in Glendale. "The best catchphrase I heard was 'murder by spreadsheet' -- that's exactly what it was."

After Sarkisyan's death, Chakrian posted some lyrics on MySpace, and upon seeing them Barkodarian was inspired to write a beat. The pair got together and recorded a song, "Nataline," and have made it available for download. Proceeds from the download ($1.99) go to the Sarkisyan family.

Learn more and download "Nataline" here.

Highlights for tonight, Feb. 20

Shane Alexander's album release show goes off tonight at the Troubadour. ... Halestorm rocks the Viper Room. ... And the Minor Canon and the Snow perform at Club NME at Spaceland.

I suppose it was inevitable that the Presidents of the United States of America would resurface this year. Could've sworn these guys broke up about 1998, but the bio tells me they've been back it full-time since 2004. Now comes the news that they have a new album "These Are the Good Times People" (what newspapers have they been reading?) due March 11 and they have re-teamed with "Weird Al" Yankovic for the video to its first single "Mixed Up S.O.B.," which you can hear here.

I mention this to note the strange whims of remembering the 1990s. PUSA sold millions of albums (4.5 million of their debut), and yet when the e-mail landed about their upcoming album, I could not remember a single one of their songs. The disposable nature of pop-punk? Possibly. The disposable nature of PUSA's pop-punk? Probably.

On the other hand, the news landed last week about another rock radio mainstay of that era, the newly reformed Filter. Richard Patrick and gang are back after five years ("Anthems for the Damned," due in May), and as soon as I saw the band's name in the subject field, "Hey Man, Nice Shot" lodged itself in my brain and simply would not go away for three days.

The big debuts by PUSA and Filter both came out in 1995, and each remains on my shelf at home. But only one remains in the inventory of my brain. Happens to you too? Please share (and, yes, take potshots at my musical tastes in 1995 all you want ...)

||| Live: PUSA plays March 19 at the House of Blues Anaheim and March 21 at the Roxy.

||| Live: Filter (no new songs on their MySpace yet) has no L.A.-area dates scheduled yet, but they're at the Casbah in San Diego on March 2.

Photo of Richard Patrick by Andrew Pinter

Highlights for Monday, Feb. 18

Dengue Fever headlines the Indie 103.1 night at the Viper Room. ... Film School plays the warm-up slot for the Pity Party's Spaceland residency. ... Robert Francis continues his Silverlake Lounge residency with guests Dawes (members of now-defunct Simon Dawes). ... Casket Salesmen and four other bands bring the rock at a free show at the Troubadour. ... And at the Echo, the Henry Clay People toast producer David Newton (who helmed their "Working Part Time" EP) by welcoming three other Newton-produced local bands onto the bill -- the Happy Hollows, Kissing Tigers and Death to Anders.

Easy as "1 2 3 4" -- Feist, the 31-year-old Canadian torch singer and Grammy nominee for best new artist, will be coming to the Hollywood Bowl for a headlining gig on July 20.  The Toronto native's striking chamber pop will be counterposed that evening by the stirring soul stylings of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. There's no on-sale date for tickets yet, and a third artist is likely to be added to the show.

The Bowl's pop/rock offerings are shaping up for the summer. Earlier this morning, a May 27 show featuring the Police and Elvis Costello and the Imposters was announced (tickets on sale Feb. 24). Mary J Blige and Jay-Z have an April 16 show; the Cure are scheduled for May 31; Sgt. Pepper's Revisited with Cheap Trick goes off June 20; Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers play on June 25; Gilbert Gil and Devendra Banhart team up on June 29; Gnarls Barkley parties on July 27; and UB40 pays a visit on Aug. 3.

Update: It's not on the Bowl's website yet, but it's on the band's: R.E.M. is playing the Bowl on May 29. And it should be pointed out that the Feist, Gil/Banhart, Barkley and UB40 shows are part of KCRW-FM's World Music series.

Photo of Feist playing KROQ-FM's Almost Acoustic Christmas show by Lawrence K. Ho / LAT

Our Charlie Amter has the scoop -- the Viper Room has been sold to Harry Morton.

Details at The Times' music blog, Soundboard.

Gary Folgner, whose Galaxy Concert Theatre will close at the end of the month when the Santa Ana space gives way to renovations for a mega-nightlcub, vows to return. "I think you'll see us pop up with another venue, maybe within a year," says Folgner, who runs the Coach House in southern Orange County but lost the lease on his central-county hub for live music. "We're in a funny market right now, with what's happening to real estate."

Certainly, what happened to the Galaxy's piece of real estate came as a surprise after Folgner's 13 years helming the club. "New guys came in, and they had more money than sin," he says. "It's a blow -- I didn't expect it to come down like that."

Punk rock and heavy metal music may be most affected, especially with the House of Blues Anaheim landlord -- the Walt Disney Co. -- excising certain harder-edged acts from the bills there. In fact, after the British band Gallows was dropped from an opening slot on a punk-rock bill there, the frontman of headlining Social Distortion, Mike Ness, told the crowd how nice it would be if the House of Blues could be picked up and moved to Costa Mesa, "so we could have a real venue." (Social D's brand of punk, apparently, passes muster; or could it be the long string of sold-out shows at HOBA?)

The Galaxy's final punk show promises to be a doozy -- Feb. 21 with TSOL, Agent Orange and D.I.

Highlights for Monday, Feb. 11

The Night Marchers, the new project of Rocket From the Crypt frontman John Reis, plays a show tonight at All-Star Lanes in Eagle Rock. ... Radars to the Sky and the Coral Sea highlight the Viper Room bill for Indie 103.1's "Check ... One, Two" show. ... Great Monday residencies continue, with Karin Tatoyan and Twilight Sleep supporting Spaceland residents the Pity Party, the Henry Clay People promising a night of covers and guest cameos at the Echo,  Tiffany Randol opening for Robert Francis at the Silverlake Lounge,  and Rickie Lee Jones holding forth a second week at the Echoplex.

Photo of the Henry clay People's Joey Siara by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Bear with me if this is old news to you -- it'll only take a second.

I wasn't aware until now that the Eels had attempted to buy a 1-second television ad during the Super Bowl to hawk its B-sides/rarities release. Super Bowl ads, after all, go for $100,000 per second, and that's about what the band could afford. It didn't quite work out.

But they made the ad anyway:

Up-to-the-minute coverage of the Grammys, courtesy of Todd Martens' live blog.

See Extended Play.

The Galaxy Concert Theatre, a staple of the live-music scene in Orange County for 13 years, is closing at the end of February, and new owners will debut an uber-nightclub in the Santa Ana space on June 1.

Gary Folgner, the Galaxy owner who also runs the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, could not immediately be reached for comment. The Galaxy's transition will not affect the Coach House.

A spokesperson for the Mor Project, a new restaurant/nightclub management group helmed by Anton Posniak, said the new, 25,000-square-foot club called RevolveR would cater to upscale clubgoers, offering multiple rooms of entertainment, myriad VIP areas, fireplaces, indoor/outdoor seating and eight full-service bars. Additionally, plans call for RevolveR's design theme to change every few months -- sort of a planned makeover.

The Mor Project is the same group behind soon-to-open venues the Rustic Vine (in the Irvine Spectrum) and the Irezumi Sushi Lounge in Costa Mesa.

-- With reporting from Charlie Amter

[This blogger is having a not-so-super Tuesday and is a little under the weather. Quickly and randomly:]

Headphones on. Here's the new video from New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers, who will be back in Los Angeles spreading doom and distortion on March 1 at Spaceland:

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Spent some spare change at iTunes today acquiring a new benefit CD titled "New Orleans: You're Not Alone." It's a joint effort of OK Go and the New Orleans brass band Bonerama (so named because of the four trombones in the band). Proceeds from the EP -- which features three OK Go songs reworked and two covers (including a cool version of David Bowie's "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide") -- benefit musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Feb. 5

The Harpeth Trace celebrates the release of its album, "On Disappearing" with a show at Safari Sam's -- Falling James in the LA Weekly captured what they do quite well in his preview here. ... Dance-rock trio Pop Noir kicks off its residency at the Key Club; Ari Shine and Maxeen are playing at the free, all-ages show as well. ... Over at the Troubadour, Black Mountain will play to a sold-out room. ... We Are Wolves rocks the Tuesday Cinespace party. ... And blasts-from-the-past Blue Cheer play the Knitting Factory.

Hot Chip's sold-out show tonight at the El Rey Theatre has been postponed due to illness. The British outfit played a show in New York on Saturday and apparently Felix Martin barely made it through that one, Brooklyn Vegan reported. A Goldenvoice spokesperson said tickets for tonight's show will be honored on the new date.

[The press release today from Beck's people:]

"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."

That is all. Enjoy your day.

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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

The Cold War Kids want their song back.

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.

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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:

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

Tickets are $35 through the festival websites Thursday and Friday, then $40 through Ticketmaster starting Saturday morning.

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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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

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Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

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Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

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Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

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2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

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Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

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Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

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Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

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Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

The Little Ones bounce back after losing record deal

Talk about a roller-coaster month.

The Little Ones gained a little one in January -- and the Los Angeles quintet lost their record deals in the EMI corporate reorganization. "It was the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows," says singer-guitarist Ed Reyes, who with wife Jenny became parents of a son, Nolan, on Jan. 31. Only a week earlier, the band was told it was being let go from its contracts with EMI imprints Heavenly (in the U.K.) and Astralwerks (in the U.S.).

They're regrouping. Later today, the band will announce a nationwide tour beginning in April with Syracuse, N.Y., sextet Ra Ra Riot -- a jaunt that will coincide with the debut of a new, self-released EP titled "Terry Tales & Fallen Gates."

"It's full circle for us -- we're back to where we were in April 2006 with 'Sing Song,'" Reyes says, referring to the debut EP that helped put the band's upbeat pop on the map.

"Whenever you're rejected by anything in life, it hurts. I'd be lying if I said we weren't disappointed. But it's a new day -- like anything, you have to roll with the punches," Reyes says. "The funny thing is, it never even felt to us like we were signed to a major [label], since both Heavenly and Astralwerks feel like indies."

As part of the separation, the Little Ones were given back the masters for their completed album, "Morning Tide," which originally was due to be released in April. The six songs on the new EP were recorded during the "Morning Tide" sessions but were not slated to be on the album. The band hopes to release it straight to iTunes, with physical copies available at shows.

||| Live: The Little Ones play a headlining date at the Troubadour on May 15, and are at the Glass House the next night with Ra Ra Riot.

||| Download: The intended first single from "Morning Tide," "Ordinary Song," as well as a remix of that song, at the band's MySpace site.

Local miscellany: The cinematic quality to Dengue Fever's sound makes it a natural for music videos. Here's the latest from the band's third album, "Venus on Earth." The track is titled "Seeing Hands":

Elsewhere: That sold-out Hot Chip show that was postponed Feb. 4 (at the El Rey) has been rescheduled for April 28 -- and it's at the Mayan. No on-sale date has been announced for the additional tickets yet; tickets for the original show will be honored... Locally famous folkies and Jenny Lewis collaborators the Watson Twins are now aligned with Vanguard Records and have a debut album, "Fire Songs," coming June 24. ... Midnight Movies are back with a new EP, "Nights," out digitally on Tuesday (check out "Should Have Known" on MySpace.

Highlights for tonight, March 6

Local dream-rock quintet Twilight Sleep celebrates the release of its new EP, "Race to the Bottom of the Sea," with a show tonight at the Echo that also features Karin Tatoyan and Restaurant. ... Brooklyn psych-rock quartet My Best Fiend, whose album of tuneful neuroses reminds you of stuff like Pink Floyd and Clinic, plays the first of a two-night stand in L.A. at the Viper Room. (The band is at the Echo on Friday.)  Also teeing it up on the good Viper Room bill tonight: Gran Ronde, Reeve Carney and the Daylights. ... Big goings-on at the Forum, where the Foo Fighters and Against Me! perform. ... The Junior Boys are doing a DJ set at Spaceland, where Troy This is playing. ... The Start kicks off a residency at Crash Mansion. ... And local quartet the Hanks mark the release of their sophomore album, "Distance," with a show at the Knitting Factory.

The Police, with Elvis Costello and the Imposters, have added a second show at the Hollywood Bowl. With the bill's May 27 date sold out, the added show will go off on May 28. Tickets ($304.50, $154.50, $99.50 and $54.50) go on sale at 10 a.m. Sunday.

It'll make for a busy week for veteran rock acts at the Bowl -- the Police/Costello on Tuesday and Wednesday, R.E.M. (which does not appear on th Bowl's calendar but is listed on the band's tour itinerary) on Thursday, May 29, and the Cure on Saturday, May 31.

Earlimart's announcement this morning on its MySpace website couldn't have come as more of a surprise -- the band has a new album finished and slated for release on July 1.

"It's done, in the can and delivered," front man Aaron Espinoza says of "Hymn & Her," which will be released on Majordomo (an imprint of Shout! Factory) less than a year after the group's first album for that imprint, last August's "Mentor Tormentor." "We just want to be relentless, keep making stuff."

"Mentor Tormentor" was more than two years in the making, but after touring behind that record Espinoza got together with principal collaborator Ariana Murray. "I told her, 'It's just you and me, we're going to get an engineer, reserve the studio and record 10 songs.' ... We didn't want to do the whole wait-three-years-to-make-another-record thing," he says.

The engineer was versatile multi-instrumentalist Andrew Lynch, who also plays keyboards and brass on the album, the band's sixth. "He's a talented dude," Espinoza says. "We're lucky to have him."

No new songs posted yet, but I'll let you know.

Photo of Earlimart's Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray by Darrin Noble

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Another local note: Silversun Pickups debuted their new, Joaquin Phoenix-directed video for "Little Lover's So Polite" on MTV2. You can check it out here. Update: Here it is:

[Apologies for the protracted silence, folks. Been away on a family matter, complicated by a run-in with Mother Nature, but thankfully people like Classical Geek Theatre can clue me in on what I missed. I now attempt to lurch back into action:]

An injury sustained by singer Alice Glass has forced the postponement of eight show by Crystal Castles, including Sunday's gig at the Roxy. The Toronto disco-noise duo hope to be back in time for their gigs at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin starting March 14. Glass suffered two cracked ribs in an auto accident, Pitchfork reported.

The Roxy will be silent on Sunday night. It was initially reported in Crystal Castles' press release that local noise specialists Health, their tourmates, would play as scheduled, but a spokesperson for the venue said the show will be postponed entirely and rescheduled later, possibly in June.

Highlights for Tuesday, March 4

Had I not been otherwise occupied, I would have found time to sing the praises of the new album, titled "Get Awkward," by Be Your Own Pet. Punky and delicious, I say. And the Nashville quartet is opening for the Raveonettes tonight at the El Rey. ... The Mountain Goats kick off a two-night stand at the Troubadour. ... Jim Bianco's release party for the very good "Sing" is tonight at the Hotel Cafe -- and as a bonus, Nyles Lannon, Daniel Ahearn and Everest (acoustic) are also playing. ... Working for a Nuclear Free City rocks Cinespace. ... And the Vacation are on the bill at the Silverlake Lounge.

Photo of Crystal Castles by Stuart Pillinger

Presidential candidate John Edwards wasn't the only person moved by the story of Nataline Sarkisyan, the 17-year-old from Northridge who died in December of complications from leukemia and whose family's battles with its insurance carrier became headline news. Two local musicians, producer/beatmaker/lyricist ailment (Tony Barkodarian) and rapper/lyricist eye2eye (Mike Chakrian), were touched too.

"We didn't know Nataline personally, but I grew up in the same area and the whole story hit very close to home," says Barkodarian, a Northridge native who now lives in Glendale. "The best catchphrase I heard was 'murder by spreadsheet' -- that's exactly what it was."

After Sarkisyan's death, Chakrian posted some lyrics on MySpace, and upon seeing them Barkodarian was inspired to write a beat. The pair got together and recorded a song, "Nataline," and have made it available for download. Proceeds from the download ($1.99) go to the Sarkisyan family.

Learn more and download "Nataline" here.

Highlights for tonight, Feb. 20

Shane Alexander's album release show goes off tonight at the Troubadour. ... Halestorm rocks the Viper Room. ... And the Minor Canon and the Snow perform at Club NME at Spaceland.

I suppose it was inevitable that the Presidents of the United States of America would resurface this year. Could've sworn these guys broke up about 1998, but the bio tells me they've been back it full-time since 2004. Now comes the news that they have a new album "These Are the Good Times People" (what newspapers have they been reading?) due March 11 and they have re-teamed with "Weird Al" Yankovic for the video to its first single "Mixed Up S.O.B.," which you can hear here.

I mention this to note the strange whims of remembering the 1990s. PUSA sold millions of albums (4.5 million of their debut), and yet when the e-mail landed about their upcoming album, I could not remember a single one of their songs. The disposable nature of pop-punk? Possibly. The disposable nature of PUSA's pop-punk? Probably.

On the other hand, the news landed last week about another rock radio mainstay of that era, the newly reformed Filter. Richard Patrick and gang are back after five years ("Anthems for the Damned," due in May), and as soon as I saw the band's name in the subject field, "Hey Man, Nice Shot" lodged itself in my brain and simply would not go away for three days.

The big debuts by PUSA and Filter both came out in 1995, and each remains on my shelf at home. But only one remains in the inventory of my brain. Happens to you too? Please share (and, yes, take potshots at my musical tastes in 1995 all you want ...)

||| Live: PUSA plays March 19 at the House of Blues Anaheim and March 21 at the Roxy.

||| Live: Filter (no new songs on their MySpace yet) has no L.A.-area dates scheduled yet, but they're at the Casbah in San Diego on March 2.

Photo of Richard Patrick by Andrew Pinter

Highlights for Monday, Feb. 18

Dengue Fever headlines the Indie 103.1 night at the Viper Room. ... Film School plays the warm-up slot for the Pity Party's Spaceland residency. ... Robert Francis continues his Silverlake Lounge residency with guests Dawes (members of now-defunct Simon Dawes). ... Casket Salesmen and four other bands bring the rock at a free show at the Troubadour. ... And at the Echo, the Henry Clay People toast producer David Newton (who helmed their "Working Part Time" EP) by welcoming three other Newton-produced local bands onto the bill -- the Happy Hollows, Kissing Tigers and Death to Anders.

Easy as "1 2 3 4" -- Feist, the 31-year-old Canadian torch singer and Grammy nominee for best new artist, will be coming to the Hollywood Bowl for a headlining gig on July 20.  The Toronto native's striking chamber pop will be counterposed that evening by the stirring soul stylings of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. There's no on-sale date for tickets yet, and a third artist is likely to be added to the show.

The Bowl's pop/rock offerings are shaping up for the summer. Earlier this morning, a May 27 show featuring the Police and Elvis Costello and the Imposters was announced (tickets on sale Feb. 24). Mary J Blige and Jay-Z have an April 16 show; the Cure are scheduled for May 31; Sgt. Pepper's Revisited with Cheap Trick goes off June 20; Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers play on June 25; Gilbert Gil and Devendra Banhart team up on June 29; Gnarls Barkley parties on July 27; and UB40 pays a visit on Aug. 3.

Update: It's not on the Bowl's website yet, but it's on the band's: R.E.M. is playing the Bowl on May 29. And it should be pointed out that the Feist, Gil/Banhart, Barkley and UB40 shows are part of KCRW-FM's World Music series.

Photo of Feist playing KROQ-FM's Almost Acoustic Christmas show by Lawrence K. Ho / LAT

Our Charlie Amter has the scoop -- the Viper Room has been sold to Harry Morton.

Details at The Times' music blog, Soundboard.

Gary Folgner, whose Galaxy Concert Theatre will close at the end of the month when the Santa Ana space gives way to renovations for a mega-nightlcub, vows to return. "I think you'll see us pop up with another venue, maybe within a year," says Folgner, who runs the Coach House in southern Orange County but lost the lease on his central-county hub for live music. "We're in a funny market right now, with what's happening to real estate."

Certainly, what happened to the Galaxy's piece of real estate came as a surprise after Folgner's 13 years helming the club. "New guys came in, and they had more money than sin," he says. "It's a blow -- I didn't expect it to come down like that."

Punk rock and heavy metal music may be most affected, especially with the House of Blues Anaheim landlord -- the Walt Disney Co. -- excising certain harder-edged acts from the bills there. In fact, after the British band Gallows was dropped from an opening slot on a punk-rock bill there, the frontman of headlining Social Distortion, Mike Ness, told the crowd how nice it would be if the House of Blues could be picked up and moved to Costa Mesa, "so we could have a real venue." (Social D's brand of punk, apparently, passes muster; or could it be the long string of sold-out shows at HOBA?)

The Galaxy's final punk show promises to be a doozy -- Feb. 21 with TSOL, Agent Orange and D.I.

Highlights for Monday, Feb. 11

The Night Marchers, the new project of Rocket From the Crypt frontman John Reis, plays a show tonight at All-Star Lanes in Eagle Rock. ... Radars to the Sky and the Coral Sea highlight the Viper Room bill for Indie 103.1's "Check ... One, Two" show. ... Great Monday residencies continue, with Karin Tatoyan and Twilight Sleep supporting Spaceland residents the Pity Party, the Henry Clay People promising a night of covers and guest cameos at the Echo,  Tiffany Randol opening for Robert Francis at the Silverlake Lounge,  and Rickie Lee Jones holding forth a second week at the Echoplex.

Photo of the Henry clay People's Joey Siara by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Bear with me if this is old news to you -- it'll only take a second.

I wasn't aware until now that the Eels had attempted to buy a 1-second television ad during the Super Bowl to hawk its B-sides/rarities release. Super Bowl ads, after all, go for $100,000 per second, and that's about what the band could afford. It didn't quite work out.

But they made the ad anyway:

Up-to-the-minute coverage of the Grammys, courtesy of Todd Martens' live blog.

See Extended Play.

The Galaxy Concert Theatre, a staple of the live-music scene in Orange County for 13 years, is closing at the end of February, and new owners will debut an uber-nightclub in the Santa Ana space on June 1.

Gary Folgner, the Galaxy owner who also runs the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, could not immediately be reached for comment. The Galaxy's transition will not affect the Coach House.

A spokesperson for the Mor Project, a new restaurant/nightclub management group helmed by Anton Posniak, said the new, 25,000-square-foot club called RevolveR would cater to upscale clubgoers, offering multiple rooms of entertainment, myriad VIP areas, fireplaces, indoor/outdoor seating and eight full-service bars. Additionally, plans call for RevolveR's design theme to change every few months -- sort of a planned makeover.

The Mor Project is the same group behind soon-to-open venues the Rustic Vine (in the Irvine Spectrum) and the Irezumi Sushi Lounge in Costa Mesa.

-- With reporting from Charlie Amter

[This blogger is having a not-so-super Tuesday and is a little under the weather. Quickly and randomly:]

Headphones on. Here's the new video from New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers, who will be back in Los Angeles spreading doom and distortion on March 1 at Spaceland:

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Spent some spare change at iTunes today acquiring a new benefit CD titled "New Orleans: You're Not Alone." It's a joint effort of OK Go and the New Orleans brass band Bonerama (so named because of the four trombones in the band). Proceeds from the EP -- which features three OK Go songs reworked and two covers (including a cool version of David Bowie's "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide") -- benefit musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Feb. 5

The Harpeth Trace celebrates the release of its album, "On Disappearing" with a show at Safari Sam's -- Falling James in the LA Weekly captured what they do quite well in his preview here. ... Dance-rock trio Pop Noir kicks off its residency at the Key Club; Ari Shine and Maxeen are playing at the free, all-ages show as well. ... Over at the Troubadour, Black Mountain will play to a sold-out room. ... We Are Wolves rocks the Tuesday Cinespace party. ... And blasts-from-the-past Blue Cheer play the Knitting Factory.

Hot Chip's sold-out show tonight at the El Rey Theatre has been postponed due to illness. The British outfit played a show in New York on Saturday and apparently Felix Martin barely made it through that one, Brooklyn Vegan reported. A Goldenvoice spokesperson said tickets for tonight's show will be honored on the new date.

[The press release today from Beck's people:]

"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."

That is all. Enjoy your day.

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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

The Cold War Kids want their song back.

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.

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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:

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

Tickets are $35 through the festival websites Thursday and Friday, then $40 through Ticketmaster starting Saturday morning.

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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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

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Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

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Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

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Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

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2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

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Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

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Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

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Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

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Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

New video from Dengue Fever

Local miscellany: The cinematic quality to Dengue Fever's sound makes it a natural for music videos. Here's the latest from the band's third album, "Venus on Earth." The track is titled "Seeing Hands":

Elsewhere: That sold-out Hot Chip show that was postponed Feb. 4 (at the El Rey) has been rescheduled for April 28 -- and it's at the Mayan. No on-sale date has been announced for the additional tickets yet; tickets for the original show will be honored... Locally famous folkies and Jenny Lewis collaborators the Watson Twins are now aligned with Vanguard Records and have a debut album, "Fire Songs," coming June 24. ... Midnight Movies are back with a new EP, "Nights," out digitally on Tuesday (check out "Should Have Known" on MySpace.

Highlights for tonight, March 6

Local dream-rock quintet Twilight Sleep celebrates the release of its new EP, "Race to the Bottom of the Sea," with a show tonight at the Echo that also features Karin Tatoyan and Restaurant. ... Brooklyn psych-rock quartet My Best Fiend, whose album of tuneful neuroses reminds you of stuff like Pink Floyd and Clinic, plays the first of a two-night stand in L.A. at the Viper Room. (The band is at the Echo on Friday.)  Also teeing it up on the good Viper Room bill tonight: Gran Ronde, Reeve Carney and the Daylights. ... Big goings-on at the Forum, where the Foo Fighters and Against Me! perform. ... The Junior Boys are doing a DJ set at Spaceland, where Troy This is playing. ... The Start kicks off a residency at Crash Mansion. ... And local quartet the Hanks mark the release of their sophomore album, "Distance," with a show at the Knitting Factory.

The Police, with Elvis Costello and the Imposters, have added a second show at the Hollywood Bowl. With the bill's May 27 date sold out, the added show will go off on May 28. Tickets ($304.50, $154.50, $99.50 and $54.50) go on sale at 10 a.m. Sunday.

It'll make for a busy week for veteran rock acts at the Bowl -- the Police/Costello on Tuesday and Wednesday, R.E.M. (which does not appear on th Bowl's calendar but is listed on the band's tour itinerary) on Thursday, May 29, and the Cure on Saturday, May 31.

Earlimart's announcement this morning on its MySpace website couldn't have come as more of a surprise -- the band has a new album finished and slated for release on July 1.

"It's done, in the can and delivered," front man Aaron Espinoza says of "Hymn & Her," which will be released on Majordomo (an imprint of Shout! Factory) less than a year after the group's first album for that imprint, last August's "Mentor Tormentor." "We just want to be relentless, keep making stuff."

"Mentor Tormentor" was more than two years in the making, but after touring behind that record Espinoza got together with principal collaborator Ariana Murray. "I told her, 'It's just you and me, we're going to get an engineer, reserve the studio and record 10 songs.' ... We didn't want to do the whole wait-three-years-to-make-another-record thing," he says.

The engineer was versatile multi-instrumentalist Andrew Lynch, who also plays keyboards and brass on the album, the band's sixth. "He's a talented dude," Espinoza says. "We're lucky to have him."

No new songs posted yet, but I'll let you know.

Photo of Earlimart's Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray by Darrin Noble

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Another local note: Silversun Pickups debuted their new, Joaquin Phoenix-directed video for "Little Lover's So Polite" on MTV2. You can check it out here. Update: Here it is:

[Apologies for the protracted silence, folks. Been away on a family matter, complicated by a run-in with Mother Nature, but thankfully people like Classical Geek Theatre can clue me in on what I missed. I now attempt to lurch back into action:]

An injury sustained by singer Alice Glass has forced the postponement of eight show by Crystal Castles, including Sunday's gig at the Roxy. The Toronto disco-noise duo hope to be back in time for their gigs at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin starting March 14. Glass suffered two cracked ribs in an auto accident, Pitchfork reported.

The Roxy will be silent on Sunday night. It was initially reported in Crystal Castles' press release that local noise specialists Health, their tourmates, would play as scheduled, but a spokesperson for the venue said the show will be postponed entirely and rescheduled later, possibly in June.

Highlights for Tuesday, March 4

Had I not been otherwise occupied, I would have found time to sing the praises of the new album, titled "Get Awkward," by Be Your Own Pet. Punky and delicious, I say. And the Nashville quartet is opening for the Raveonettes tonight at the El Rey. ... The Mountain Goats kick off a two-night stand at the Troubadour. ... Jim Bianco's release party for the very good "Sing" is tonight at the Hotel Cafe -- and as a bonus, Nyles Lannon, Daniel Ahearn and Everest (acoustic) are also playing. ... Working for a Nuclear Free City rocks Cinespace. ... And the Vacation are on the bill at the Silverlake Lounge.

Photo of Crystal Castles by Stuart Pillinger

Presidential candidate John Edwards wasn't the only person moved by the story of Nataline Sarkisyan, the 17-year-old from Northridge who died in December of complications from leukemia and whose family's battles with its insurance carrier became headline news. Two local musicians, producer/beatmaker/lyricist ailment (Tony Barkodarian) and rapper/lyricist eye2eye (Mike Chakrian), were touched too.

"We didn't know Nataline personally, but I grew up in the same area and the whole story hit very close to home," says Barkodarian, a Northridge native who now lives in Glendale. "The best catchphrase I heard was 'murder by spreadsheet' -- that's exactly what it was."

After Sarkisyan's death, Chakrian posted some lyrics on MySpace, and upon seeing them Barkodarian was inspired to write a beat. The pair got together and recorded a song, "Nataline," and have made it available for download. Proceeds from the download ($1.99) go to the Sarkisyan family.

Learn more and download "Nataline" here.

Highlights for tonight, Feb. 20

Shane Alexander's album release show goes off tonight at the Troubadour. ... Halestorm rocks the Viper Room. ... And the Minor Canon and the Snow perform at Club NME at Spaceland.

I suppose it was inevitable that the Presidents of the United States of America would resurface this year. Could've sworn these guys broke up about 1998, but the bio tells me they've been back it full-time since 2004. Now comes the news that they have a new album "These Are the Good Times People" (what newspapers have they been reading?) due March 11 and they have re-teamed with "Weird Al" Yankovic for the video to its first single "Mixed Up S.O.B.," which you can hear here.

I mention this to note the strange whims of remembering the 1990s. PUSA sold millions of albums (4.5 million of their debut), and yet when the e-mail landed about their upcoming album, I could not remember a single one of their songs. The disposable nature of pop-punk? Possibly. The disposable nature of PUSA's pop-punk? Probably.

On the other hand, the news landed last week about another rock radio mainstay of that era, the newly reformed Filter. Richard Patrick and gang are back after five years ("Anthems for the Damned," due in May), and as soon as I saw the band's name in the subject field, "Hey Man, Nice Shot" lodged itself in my brain and simply would not go away for three days.

The big debuts by PUSA and Filter both came out in 1995, and each remains on my shelf at home. But only one remains in the inventory of my brain. Happens to you too? Please share (and, yes, take potshots at my musical tastes in 1995 all you want ...)

||| Live: PUSA plays March 19 at the House of Blues Anaheim and March 21 at the Roxy.

||| Live: Filter (no new songs on their MySpace yet) has no L.A.-area dates scheduled yet, but they're at the Casbah in San Diego on March 2.

Photo of Richard Patrick by Andrew Pinter

Highlights for Monday, Feb. 18

Dengue Fever headlines the Indie 103.1 night at the Viper Room. ... Film School plays the warm-up slot for the Pity Party's Spaceland residency. ... Robert Francis continues his Silverlake Lounge residency with guests Dawes (members of now-defunct Simon Dawes). ... Casket Salesmen and four other bands bring the rock at a free show at the Troubadour. ... And at the Echo, the Henry Clay People toast producer David Newton (who helmed their "Working Part Time" EP) by welcoming three other Newton-produced local bands onto the bill -- the Happy Hollows, Kissing Tigers and Death to Anders.

Easy as "1 2 3 4" -- Feist, the 31-year-old Canadian torch singer and Grammy nominee for best new artist, will be coming to the Hollywood Bowl for a headlining gig on July 20.  The Toronto native's striking chamber pop will be counterposed that evening by the stirring soul stylings of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. There's no on-sale date for tickets yet, and a third artist is likely to be added to the show.

The Bowl's pop/rock offerings are shaping up for the summer. Earlier this morning, a May 27 show featuring the Police and Elvis Costello and the Imposters was announced (tickets on sale Feb. 24). Mary J Blige and Jay-Z have an April 16 show; the Cure are scheduled for May 31; Sgt. Pepper's Revisited with Cheap Trick goes off June 20; Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers play on June 25; Gilbert Gil and Devendra Banhart team up on June 29; Gnarls Barkley parties on July 27; and UB40 pays a visit on Aug. 3.

Update: It's not on the Bowl's website yet, but it's on the band's: R.E.M. is playing the Bowl on May 29. And it should be pointed out that the Feist, Gil/Banhart, Barkley and UB40 shows are part of KCRW-FM's World Music series.

Photo of Feist playing KROQ-FM's Almost Acoustic Christmas show by Lawrence K. Ho / LAT

Our Charlie Amter has the scoop -- the Viper Room has been sold to Harry Morton.

Details at The Times' music blog, Soundboard.

Gary Folgner, whose Galaxy Concert Theatre will close at the end of the month when the Santa Ana space gives way to renovations for a mega-nightlcub, vows to return. "I think you'll see us pop up with another venue, maybe within a year," says Folgner, who runs the Coach House in southern Orange County but lost the lease on his central-county hub for live music. "We're in a funny market right now, with what's happening to real estate."

Certainly, what happened to the Galaxy's piece of real estate came as a surprise after Folgner's 13 years helming the club. "New guys came in, and they had more money than sin," he says. "It's a blow -- I didn't expect it to come down like that."

Punk rock and heavy metal music may be most affected, especially with the House of Blues Anaheim landlord -- the Walt Disney Co. -- excising certain harder-edged acts from the bills there. In fact, after the British band Gallows was dropped from an opening slot on a punk-rock bill there, the frontman of headlining Social Distortion, Mike Ness, told the crowd how nice it would be if the House of Blues could be picked up and moved to Costa Mesa, "so we could have a real venue." (Social D's brand of punk, apparently, passes muster; or could it be the long string of sold-out shows at HOBA?)

The Galaxy's final punk show promises to be a doozy -- Feb. 21 with TSOL, Agent Orange and D.I.

Highlights for Monday, Feb. 11

The Night Marchers, the new project of Rocket From the Crypt frontman John Reis, plays a show tonight at All-Star Lanes in Eagle Rock. ... Radars to the Sky and the Coral Sea highlight the Viper Room bill for Indie 103.1's "Check ... One, Two" show. ... Great Monday residencies continue, with Karin Tatoyan and Twilight Sleep supporting Spaceland residents the Pity Party, the Henry Clay People promising a night of covers and guest cameos at the Echo,  Tiffany Randol opening for Robert Francis at the Silverlake Lounge,  and Rickie Lee Jones holding forth a second week at the Echoplex.

Photo of the Henry clay People's Joey Siara by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Bear with me if this is old news to you -- it'll only take a second.

I wasn't aware until now that the Eels had attempted to buy a 1-second television ad during the Super Bowl to hawk its B-sides/rarities release. Super Bowl ads, after all, go for $100,000 per second, and that's about what the band could afford. It didn't quite work out.

But they made the ad anyway:

Up-to-the-minute coverage of the Grammys, courtesy of Todd Martens' live blog.

See Extended Play.

The Galaxy Concert Theatre, a staple of the live-music scene in Orange County for 13 years, is closing at the end of February, and new owners will debut an uber-nightclub in the Santa Ana space on June 1.

Gary Folgner, the Galaxy owner who also runs the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, could not immediately be reached for comment. The Galaxy's transition will not affect the Coach House.

A spokesperson for the Mor Project, a new restaurant/nightclub management group helmed by Anton Posniak, said the new, 25,000-square-foot club called RevolveR would cater to upscale clubgoers, offering multiple rooms of entertainment, myriad VIP areas, fireplaces, indoor/outdoor seating and eight full-service bars. Additionally, plans call for RevolveR's design theme to change every few months -- sort of a planned makeover.

The Mor Project is the same group behind soon-to-open venues the Rustic Vine (in the Irvine Spectrum) and the Irezumi Sushi Lounge in Costa Mesa.

-- With reporting from Charlie Amter

[This blogger is having a not-so-super Tuesday and is a little under the weather. Quickly and randomly:]

Headphones on. Here's the new video from New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers, who will be back in Los Angeles spreading doom and distortion on March 1 at Spaceland:

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Spent some spare change at iTunes today acquiring a new benefit CD titled "New Orleans: You're Not Alone." It's a joint effort of OK Go and the New Orleans brass band Bonerama (so named because of the four trombones in the band). Proceeds from the EP -- which features three OK Go songs reworked and two covers (including a cool version of David Bowie's "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide") -- benefit musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Feb. 5

The Harpeth Trace celebrates the release of its album, "On Disappearing" with a show at Safari Sam's -- Falling James in the LA Weekly captured what they do quite well in his preview here. ... Dance-rock trio Pop Noir kicks off its residency at the Key Club; Ari Shine and Maxeen are playing at the free, all-ages show as well. ... Over at the Troubadour, Black Mountain will play to a sold-out room. ... We Are Wolves rocks the Tuesday Cinespace party. ... And blasts-from-the-past Blue Cheer play the Knitting Factory.

Hot Chip's sold-out show tonight at the El Rey Theatre has been postponed due to illness. The British outfit played a show in New York on Saturday and apparently Felix Martin barely made it through that one, Brooklyn Vegan reported. A Goldenvoice spokesperson said tickets for tonight's show will be honored on the new date.

[The press release today from Beck's people:]

"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."

That is all. Enjoy your day.

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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

The Cold War Kids want their song back.

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.

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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:

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

Tickets are $35 through the festival websites Thursday and Friday, then $40 through Ticketmaster starting Saturday morning.

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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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

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Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

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Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

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Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

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2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

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Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

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Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

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Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

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Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

The Police add second Hollywood Bowl show

The Police, with Elvis Costello and the Imposters, have added a second show at the Hollywood Bowl. With the bill's May 27 date sold out, the added show will go off on May 28. Tickets ($304.50, $154.50, $99.50 and $54.50) go on sale at 10 a.m. Sunday.

It'll make for a busy week for veteran rock acts at the Bowl -- the Police/Costello on Tuesday and Wednesday, R.E.M. (which does not appear on th Bowl's calendar but is listed on the band's tour itinerary) on Thursday, May 29, and the Cure on Saturday, May 31.

Earlimart's announcement this morning on its MySpace website couldn't have come as more of a surprise -- the band has a new album finished and slated for release on July 1.

"It's done, in the can and delivered," front man Aaron Espinoza says of "Hymn & Her," which will be released on Majordomo (an imprint of Shout! Factory) less than a year after the group's first album for that imprint, last August's "Mentor Tormentor." "We just want to be relentless, keep making stuff."

"Mentor Tormentor" was more than two years in the making, but after touring behind that record Espinoza got together with principal collaborator Ariana Murray. "I told her, 'It's just you and me, we're going to get an engineer, reserve the studio and record 10 songs.' ... We didn't want to do the whole wait-three-years-to-make-another-record thing," he says.

The engineer was versatile multi-instrumentalist Andrew Lynch, who also plays keyboards and brass on the album, the band's sixth. "He's a talented dude," Espinoza says. "We're lucky to have him."

No new songs posted yet, but I'll let you know.

Photo of Earlimart's Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray by Darrin Noble

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Another local note: Silversun Pickups debuted their new, Joaquin Phoenix-directed video for "Little Lover's So Polite" on MTV2. You can check it out here. Update: Here it is:

[Apologies for the protracted silence, folks. Been away on a family matter, complicated by a run-in with Mother Nature, but thankfully people like Classical Geek Theatre can clue me in on what I missed. I now attempt to lurch back into action:]

An injury sustained by singer Alice Glass has forced the postponement of eight show by Crystal Castles, including Sunday's gig at the Roxy. The Toronto disco-noise duo hope to be back in time for their gigs at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin starting March 14. Glass suffered two cracked ribs in an auto accident, Pitchfork reported.

The Roxy will be silent on Sunday night. It was initially reported in Crystal Castles' press release that local noise specialists Health, their tourmates, would play as scheduled, but a spokesperson for the venue said the show will be postponed entirely and rescheduled later, possibly in June.

Highlights for Tuesday, March 4

Had I not been otherwise occupied, I would have found time to sing the praises of the new album, titled "Get Awkward," by Be Your Own Pet. Punky and delicious, I say. And the Nashville quartet is opening for the Raveonettes tonight at the El Rey. ... The Mountain Goats kick off a two-night stand at the Troubadour. ... Jim Bianco's release party for the very good "Sing" is tonight at the Hotel Cafe -- and as a bonus, Nyles Lannon, Daniel Ahearn and Everest (acoustic) are also playing. ... Working for a Nuclear Free City rocks Cinespace. ... And the Vacation are on the bill at the Silverlake Lounge.

Photo of Crystal Castles by Stuart Pillinger

Presidential candidate John Edwards wasn't the only person moved by the story of Nataline Sarkisyan, the 17-year-old from Northridge who died in December of complications from leukemia and whose family's battles with its insurance carrier became headline news. Two local musicians, producer/beatmaker/lyricist ailment (Tony Barkodarian) and rapper/lyricist eye2eye (Mike Chakrian), were touched too.

"We didn't know Nataline personally, but I grew up in the same area and the whole story hit very close to home," says Barkodarian, a Northridge native who now lives in Glendale. "The best catchphrase I heard was 'murder by spreadsheet' -- that's exactly what it was."

After Sarkisyan's death, Chakrian posted some lyrics on MySpace, and upon seeing them Barkodarian was inspired to write a beat. The pair got together and recorded a song, "Nataline," and have made it available for download. Proceeds from the download ($1.99) go to the Sarkisyan family.

Learn more and download "Nataline" here.

Highlights for tonight, Feb. 20

Shane Alexander's album release show goes off tonight at the Troubadour. ... Halestorm rocks the Viper Room. ... And the Minor Canon and the Snow perform at Club NME at Spaceland.

I suppose it was inevitable that the Presidents of the United States of America would resurface this year. Could've sworn these guys broke up about 1998, but the bio tells me they've been back it full-time since 2004. Now comes the news that they have a new album "These Are the Good Times People" (what newspapers have they been reading?) due March 11 and they have re-teamed with "Weird Al" Yankovic for the video to its first single "Mixed Up S.O.B.," which you can hear here.

I mention this to note the strange whims of remembering the 1990s. PUSA sold millions of albums (4.5 million of their debut), and yet when the e-mail landed about their upcoming album, I could not remember a single one of their songs. The disposable nature of pop-punk? Possibly. The disposable nature of PUSA's pop-punk? Probably.

On the other hand, the news landed last week about another rock radio mainstay of that era, the newly reformed Filter. Richard Patrick and gang are back after five years ("Anthems for the Damned," due in May), and as soon as I saw the band's name in the subject field, "Hey Man, Nice Shot" lodged itself in my brain and simply would not go away for three days.

The big debuts by PUSA and Filter both came out in 1995, and each remains on my shelf at home. But only one remains in the inventory of my brain. Happens to you too? Please share (and, yes, take potshots at my musical tastes in 1995 all you want ...)

||| Live: PUSA plays March 19 at the House of Blues Anaheim and March 21 at the Roxy.

||| Live: Filter (no new songs on their MySpace yet) has no L.A.-area dates scheduled yet, but they're at the Casbah in San Diego on March 2.

Photo of Richard Patrick by Andrew Pinter

Highlights for Monday, Feb. 18

Dengue Fever headlines the Indie 103.1 night at the Viper Room. ... Film School plays the warm-up slot for the Pity Party's Spaceland residency. ... Robert Francis continues his Silverlake Lounge residency with guests Dawes (members of now-defunct Simon Dawes). ... Casket Salesmen and four other bands bring the rock at a free show at the Troubadour. ... And at the Echo, the Henry Clay People toast producer David Newton (who helmed their "Working Part Time" EP) by welcoming three other Newton-produced local bands onto the bill -- the Happy Hollows, Kissing Tigers and Death to Anders.

Easy as "1 2 3 4" -- Feist, the 31-year-old Canadian torch singer and Grammy nominee for best new artist, will be coming to the Hollywood Bowl for a headlining gig on July 20.  The Toronto native's striking chamber pop will be counterposed that evening by the stirring soul stylings of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. There's no on-sale date for tickets yet, and a third artist is likely to be added to the show.

The Bowl's pop/rock offerings are shaping up for the summer. Earlier this morning, a May 27 show featuring the Police and Elvis Costello and the Imposters was announced (tickets on sale Feb. 24). Mary J Blige and Jay-Z have an April 16 show; the Cure are scheduled for May 31; Sgt. Pepper's Revisited with Cheap Trick goes off June 20; Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers play on June 25; Gilbert Gil and Devendra Banhart team up on June 29; Gnarls Barkley parties on July 27; and UB40 pays a visit on Aug. 3.

Update: It's not on the Bowl's website yet, but it's on the band's: R.E.M. is playing the Bowl on May 29. And it should be pointed out that the Feist, Gil/Banhart, Barkley and UB40 shows are part of KCRW-FM's World Music series.

Photo of Feist playing KROQ-FM's Almost Acoustic Christmas show by Lawrence K. Ho / LAT

Our Charlie Amter has the scoop -- the Viper Room has been sold to Harry Morton.

Details at The Times' music blog, Soundboard.

Gary Folgner, whose Galaxy Concert Theatre will close at the end of the month when the Santa Ana space gives way to renovations for a mega-nightlcub, vows to return. "I think you'll see us pop up with another venue, maybe within a year," says Folgner, who runs the Coach House in southern Orange County but lost the lease on his central-county hub for live music. "We're in a funny market right now, with what's happening to real estate."

Certainly, what happened to the Galaxy's piece of real estate came as a surprise after Folgner's 13 years helming the club. "New guys came in, and they had more money than sin," he says. "It's a blow -- I didn't expect it to come down like that."

Punk rock and heavy metal music may be most affected, especially with the House of Blues Anaheim landlord -- the Walt Disney Co. -- excising certain harder-edged acts from the bills there. In fact, after the British band Gallows was dropped from an opening slot on a punk-rock bill there, the frontman of headlining Social Distortion, Mike Ness, told the crowd how nice it would be if the House of Blues could be picked up and moved to Costa Mesa, "so we could have a real venue." (Social D's brand of punk, apparently, passes muster; or could it be the long string of sold-out shows at HOBA?)

The Galaxy's final punk show promises to be a doozy -- Feb. 21 with TSOL, Agent Orange and D.I.

Highlights for Monday, Feb. 11

The Night Marchers, the new project of Rocket From the Crypt frontman John Reis, plays a show tonight at All-Star Lanes in Eagle Rock. ... Radars to the Sky and the Coral Sea highlight the Viper Room bill for Indie 103.1's "Check ... One, Two" show. ... Great Monday residencies continue, with Karin Tatoyan and Twilight Sleep supporting Spaceland residents the Pity Party, the Henry Clay People promising a night of covers and guest cameos at the Echo,  Tiffany Randol opening for Robert Francis at the Silverlake Lounge,  and Rickie Lee Jones holding forth a second week at the Echoplex.

Photo of the Henry clay People's Joey Siara by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Bear with me if this is old news to you -- it'll only take a second.

I wasn't aware until now that the Eels had attempted to buy a 1-second television ad during the Super Bowl to hawk its B-sides/rarities release. Super Bowl ads, after all, go for $100,000 per second, and that's about what the band could afford. It didn't quite work out.

But they made the ad anyway:

Up-to-the-minute coverage of the Grammys, courtesy of Todd Martens' live blog.

See Extended Play.

The Galaxy Concert Theatre, a staple of the live-music scene in Orange County for 13 years, is closing at the end of February, and new owners will debut an uber-nightclub in the Santa Ana space on June 1.

Gary Folgner, the Galaxy owner who also runs the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, could not immediately be reached for comment. The Galaxy's transition will not affect the Coach House.

A spokesperson for the Mor Project, a new restaurant/nightclub management group helmed by Anton Posniak, said the new, 25,000-square-foot club called RevolveR would cater to upscale clubgoers, offering multiple rooms of entertainment, myriad VIP areas, fireplaces, indoor/outdoor seating and eight full-service bars. Additionally, plans call for RevolveR's design theme to change every few months -- sort of a planned makeover.

The Mor Project is the same group behind soon-to-open venues the Rustic Vine (in the Irvine Spectrum) and the Irezumi Sushi Lounge in Costa Mesa.

-- With reporting from Charlie Amter

[This blogger is having a not-so-super Tuesday and is a little under the weather. Quickly and randomly:]

Headphones on. Here's the new video from New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers, who will be back in Los Angeles spreading doom and distortion on March 1 at Spaceland:

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Spent some spare change at iTunes today acquiring a new benefit CD titled "New Orleans: You're Not Alone." It's a joint effort of OK Go and the New Orleans brass band Bonerama (so named because of the four trombones in the band). Proceeds from the EP -- which features three OK Go songs reworked and two covers (including a cool version of David Bowie's "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide") -- benefit musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Feb. 5

The Harpeth Trace celebrates the release of its album, "On Disappearing" with a show at Safari Sam's -- Falling James in the LA Weekly captured what they do quite well in his preview here. ... Dance-rock trio Pop Noir kicks off its residency at the Key Club; Ari Shine and Maxeen are playing at the free, all-ages show as well. ... Over at the Troubadour, Black Mountain will play to a sold-out room. ... We Are Wolves rocks the Tuesday Cinespace party. ... And blasts-from-the-past Blue Cheer play the Knitting Factory.

Hot Chip's sold-out show tonight at the El Rey Theatre has been postponed due to illness. The British outfit played a show in New York on Saturday and apparently Felix Martin barely made it through that one, Brooklyn Vegan reported. A Goldenvoice spokesperson said tickets for tonight's show will be honored on the new date.

[The press release today from Beck's people:]

"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."

That is all. Enjoy your day.

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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

The Cold War Kids want their song back.

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.

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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:

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

Tickets are $35 through the festival websites Thursday and Friday, then $40 through Ticketmaster starting Saturday morning.

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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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

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Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

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Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

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Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

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2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

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Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

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Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

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Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

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Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

New Earlimart album due July 1

Earlimart's announcement this morning on its MySpace website couldn't have come as more of a surprise -- the band has a new album finished and slated for release on July 1.

"It's done, in the can and delivered," front man Aaron Espinoza says of "Hymn & Her," which will be released on Majordomo (an imprint of Shout! Factory) less than a year after the group's first album for that imprint, last August's "Mentor Tormentor." "We just want to be relentless, keep making stuff."

"Mentor Tormentor" was more than two years in the making, but after touring behind that record Espinoza got together with principal collaborator Ariana Murray. "I told her, 'It's just you and me, we're going to get an engineer, reserve the studio and record 10 songs.' ... We didn't want to do the whole wait-three-years-to-make-another-record thing," he says.

The engineer was versatile multi-instrumentalist Andrew Lynch, who also plays keyboards and brass on the album, the band's sixth. "He's a talented dude," Espinoza says. "We're lucky to have him."

No new songs posted yet, but I'll let you know.

Photo of Earlimart's Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray by Darrin Noble

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Another local note: Silversun Pickups debuted their new, Joaquin Phoenix-directed video for "Little Lover's So Polite" on MTV2. You can check it out here. Update: Here it is:

[Apologies for the protracted silence, folks. Been away on a family matter, complicated by a run-in with Mother Nature, but thankfully people like Classical Geek Theatre can clue me in on what I missed. I now attempt to lurch back into action:]

An injury sustained by singer Alice Glass has forced the postponement of eight show by Crystal Castles, including Sunday's gig at the Roxy. The Toronto disco-noise duo hope to be back in time for their gigs at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin starting March 14. Glass suffered two cracked ribs in an auto accident, Pitchfork reported.

The Roxy will be silent on Sunday night. It was initially reported in Crystal Castles' press release that local noise specialists Health, their tourmates, would play as scheduled, but a spokesperson for the venue said the show will be postponed entirely and rescheduled later, possibly in June.

Highlights for Tuesday, March 4

Had I not been otherwise occupied, I would have found time to sing the praises of the new album, titled "Get Awkward," by Be Your Own Pet. Punky and delicious, I say. And the Nashville quartet is opening for the Raveonettes tonight at the El Rey. ... The Mountain Goats kick off a two-night stand at the Troubadour. ... Jim Bianco's release party for the very good "Sing" is tonight at the Hotel Cafe -- and as a bonus, Nyles Lannon, Daniel Ahearn and Everest (acoustic) are also playing. ... Working for a Nuclear Free City rocks Cinespace. ... And the Vacation are on the bill at the Silverlake Lounge.

Photo of Crystal Castles by Stuart Pillinger

Presidential candidate John Edwards wasn't the only person moved by the story of Nataline Sarkisyan, the 17-year-old from Northridge who died in December of complications from leukemia and whose family's battles with its insurance carrier became headline news. Two local musicians, producer/beatmaker/lyricist ailment (Tony Barkodarian) and rapper/lyricist eye2eye (Mike Chakrian), were touched too.

"We didn't know Nataline personally, but I grew up in the same area and the whole story hit very close to home," says Barkodarian, a Northridge native who now lives in Glendale. "The best catchphrase I heard was 'murder by spreadsheet' -- that's exactly what it was."

After Sarkisyan's death, Chakrian posted some lyrics on MySpace, and upon seeing them Barkodarian was inspired to write a beat. The pair got together and recorded a song, "Nataline," and have made it available for download. Proceeds from the download ($1.99) go to the Sarkisyan family.

Learn more and download "Nataline" here.

Highlights for tonight, Feb. 20

Shane Alexander's album release show goes off tonight at the Troubadour. ... Halestorm rocks the Viper Room. ... And the Minor Canon and the Snow perform at Club NME at Spaceland.

I suppose it was inevitable that the Presidents of the United States of America would resurface this year. Could've sworn these guys broke up about 1998, but the bio tells me they've been back it full-time since 2004. Now comes the news that they have a new album "These Are the Good Times People" (what newspapers have they been reading?) due March 11 and they have re-teamed with "Weird Al" Yankovic for the video to its first single "Mixed Up S.O.B.," which you can hear here.

I mention this to note the strange whims of remembering the 1990s. PUSA sold millions of albums (4.5 million of their debut), and yet when the e-mail landed about their upcoming album, I could not remember a single one of their songs. The disposable nature of pop-punk? Possibly. The disposable nature of PUSA's pop-punk? Probably.

On the other hand, the news landed last week about another rock radio mainstay of that era, the newly reformed Filter. Richard Patrick and gang are back after five years ("Anthems for the Damned," due in May), and as soon as I saw the band's name in the subject field, "Hey Man, Nice Shot" lodged itself in my brain and simply would not go away for three days.

The big debuts by PUSA and Filter both came out in 1995, and each remains on my shelf at home. But only one remains in the inventory of my brain. Happens to you too? Please share (and, yes, take potshots at my musical tastes in 1995 all you want ...)

||| Live: PUSA plays March 19 at the House of Blues Anaheim and March 21 at the Roxy.

||| Live: Filter (no new songs on their MySpace yet) has no L.A.-area dates scheduled yet, but they're at the Casbah in San Diego on March 2.

Photo of Richard Patrick by Andrew Pinter

Highlights for Monday, Feb. 18

Dengue Fever headlines the Indie 103.1 night at the Viper Room. ... Film School plays the warm-up slot for the Pity Party's Spaceland residency. ... Robert Francis continues his Silverlake Lounge residency with guests Dawes (members of now-defunct Simon Dawes). ... Casket Salesmen and four other bands bring the rock at a free show at the Troubadour. ... And at the Echo, the Henry Clay People toast producer David Newton (who helmed their "Working Part Time" EP) by welcoming three other Newton-produced local bands onto the bill -- the Happy Hollows, Kissing Tigers and Death to Anders.

Easy as "1 2 3 4" -- Feist, the 31-year-old Canadian torch singer and Grammy nominee for best new artist, will be coming to the Hollywood Bowl for a headlining gig on July 20.  The Toronto native's striking chamber pop will be counterposed that evening by the stirring soul stylings of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. There's no on-sale date for tickets yet, and a third artist is likely to be added to the show.

The Bowl's pop/rock offerings are shaping up for the summer. Earlier this morning, a May 27 show featuring the Police and Elvis Costello and the Imposters was announced (tickets on sale Feb. 24). Mary J Blige and Jay-Z have an April 16 show; the Cure are scheduled for May 31; Sgt. Pepper's Revisited with Cheap Trick goes off June 20; Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers play on June 25; Gilbert Gil and Devendra Banhart team up on June 29; Gnarls Barkley parties on July 27; and UB40 pays a visit on Aug. 3.

Update: It's not on the Bowl's website yet, but it's on the band's: R.E.M. is playing the Bowl on May 29. And it should be pointed out that the Feist, Gil/Banhart, Barkley and UB40 shows are part of KCRW-FM's World Music series.

Photo of Feist playing KROQ-FM's Almost Acoustic Christmas show by Lawrence K. Ho / LAT

Our Charlie Amter has the scoop -- the Viper Room has been sold to Harry Morton.

Details at The Times' music blog, Soundboard.

Gary Folgner, whose Galaxy Concert Theatre will close at the end of the month when the Santa Ana space gives way to renovations for a mega-nightlcub, vows to return. "I think you'll see us pop up with another venue, maybe within a year," says Folgner, who runs the Coach House in southern Orange County but lost the lease on his central-county hub for live music. "We're in a funny market right now, with what's happening to real estate."

Certainly, what happened to the Galaxy's piece of real estate came as a surprise after Folgner's 13 years helming the club. "New guys came in, and they had more money than sin," he says. "It's a blow -- I didn't expect it to come down like that."

Punk rock and heavy metal music may be most affected, especially with the House of Blues Anaheim landlord -- the Walt Disney Co. -- excising certain harder-edged acts from the bills there. In fact, after the British band Gallows was dropped from an opening slot on a punk-rock bill there, the frontman of headlining Social Distortion, Mike Ness, told the crowd how nice it would be if the House of Blues could be picked up and moved to Costa Mesa, "so we could have a real venue." (Social D's brand of punk, apparently, passes muster; or could it be the long string of sold-out shows at HOBA?)

The Galaxy's final punk show promises to be a doozy -- Feb. 21 with TSOL, Agent Orange and D.I.

Highlights for Monday, Feb. 11

The Night Marchers, the new project of Rocket From the Crypt frontman John Reis, plays a show tonight at All-Star Lanes in Eagle Rock. ... Radars to the Sky and the Coral Sea highlight the Viper Room bill for Indie 103.1's "Check ... One, Two" show. ... Great Monday residencies continue, with Karin Tatoyan and Twilight Sleep supporting Spaceland residents the Pity Party, the Henry Clay People promising a night of covers and guest cameos at the Echo,  Tiffany Randol opening for Robert Francis at the Silverlake Lounge,  and Rickie Lee Jones holding forth a second week at the Echoplex.

Photo of the Henry clay People's Joey Siara by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Bear with me if this is old news to you -- it'll only take a second.

I wasn't aware until now that the Eels had attempted to buy a 1-second television ad during the Super Bowl to hawk its B-sides/rarities release. Super Bowl ads, after all, go for $100,000 per second, and that's about what the band could afford. It didn't quite work out.

But they made the ad anyway:

Up-to-the-minute coverage of the Grammys, courtesy of Todd Martens' live blog.

See Extended Play.

The Galaxy Concert Theatre, a staple of the live-music scene in Orange County for 13 years, is closing at the end of February, and new owners will debut an uber-nightclub in the Santa Ana space on June 1.

Gary Folgner, the Galaxy owner who also runs the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, could not immediately be reached for comment. The Galaxy's transition will not affect the Coach House.

A spokesperson for the Mor Project, a new restaurant/nightclub management group helmed by Anton Posniak, said the new, 25,000-square-foot club called RevolveR would cater to upscale clubgoers, offering multiple rooms of entertainment, myriad VIP areas, fireplaces, indoor/outdoor seating and eight full-service bars. Additionally, plans call for RevolveR's design theme to change every few months -- sort of a planned makeover.

The Mor Project is the same group behind soon-to-open venues the Rustic Vine (in the Irvine Spectrum) and the Irezumi Sushi Lounge in Costa Mesa.

-- With reporting from Charlie Amter

[This blogger is having a not-so-super Tuesday and is a little under the weather. Quickly and randomly:]

Headphones on. Here's the new video from New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers, who will be back in Los Angeles spreading doom and distortion on March 1 at Spaceland:

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Spent some spare change at iTunes today acquiring a new benefit CD titled "New Orleans: You're Not Alone." It's a joint effort of OK Go and the New Orleans brass band Bonerama (so named because of the four trombones in the band). Proceeds from the EP -- which features three OK Go songs reworked and two covers (including a cool version of David Bowie's "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide") -- benefit musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Feb. 5

The Harpeth Trace celebrates the release of its album, "On Disappearing" with a show at Safari Sam's -- Falling James in the LA Weekly captured what they do quite well in his preview here. ... Dance-rock trio Pop Noir kicks off its residency at the Key Club; Ari Shine and Maxeen are playing at the free, all-ages show as well. ... Over at the Troubadour, Black Mountain will play to a sold-out room. ... We Are Wolves rocks the Tuesday Cinespace party. ... And blasts-from-the-past Blue Cheer play the Knitting Factory.

Hot Chip's sold-out show tonight at the El Rey Theatre has been postponed due to illness. The British outfit played a show in New York on Saturday and apparently Felix Martin barely made it through that one, Brooklyn Vegan reported. A Goldenvoice spokesperson said tickets for tonight's show will be honored on the new date.

[The press release today from Beck's people:]

"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."

That is all. Enjoy your day.

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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

The Cold War Kids want their song back.

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.

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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:

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

Tickets are $35 through the festival websites Thursday and Friday, then $40 through Ticketmaster starting Saturday morning.

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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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

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Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

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Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

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Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

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2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

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Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

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Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

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Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

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Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Crystal Castles postpones Roxy gig

[Apologies for the protracted silence, folks. Been away on a family matter, complicated by a run-in with Mother Nature, but thankfully people like Classical Geek Theatre can clue me in on what I missed. I now attempt to lurch back into action:]

An injury sustained by singer Alice Glass has forced the postponement of eight show by Crystal Castles, including Sunday's gig at the Roxy. The Toronto disco-noise duo hope to be back in time for their gigs at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin starting March 14. Glass suffered two cracked ribs in an auto accident, Pitchfork reported.

The Roxy will be silent on Sunday night. It was initially reported in Crystal Castles' press release that local noise specialists Health, their tourmates, would play as scheduled, but a spokesperson for the venue said the show will be postponed entirely and rescheduled later, possibly in June.

Highlights for Tuesday, March 4

Had I not been otherwise occupied, I would have found time to sing the praises of the new album, titled "Get Awkward," by Be Your Own Pet. Punky and delicious, I say. And the Nashville quartet is opening for the Raveonettes tonight at the El Rey. ... The Mountain Goats kick off a two-night stand at the Troubadour. ... Jim Bianco's release party for the very good "Sing" is tonight at the Hotel Cafe -- and as a bonus, Nyles Lannon, Daniel Ahearn and Everest (acoustic) are also playing. ... Working for a Nuclear Free City rocks Cinespace. ... And the Vacation are on the bill at the Silverlake Lounge.

Photo of Crystal Castles by Stuart Pillinger

Presidential candidate John Edwards wasn't the only person moved by the story of Nataline Sarkisyan, the 17-year-old from Northridge who died in December of complications from leukemia and whose family's battles with its insurance carrier became headline news. Two local musicians, producer/beatmaker/lyricist ailment (Tony Barkodarian) and rapper/lyricist eye2eye (Mike Chakrian), were touched too.

"We didn't know Nataline personally, but I grew up in the same area and the whole story hit very close to home," says Barkodarian, a Northridge native who now lives in Glendale. "The best catchphrase I heard was 'murder by spreadsheet' -- that's exactly what it was."

After Sarkisyan's death, Chakrian posted some lyrics on MySpace, and upon seeing them Barkodarian was inspired to write a beat. The pair got together and recorded a song, "Nataline," and have made it available for download. Proceeds from the download ($1.99) go to the Sarkisyan family.

Learn more and download "Nataline" here.

Highlights for tonight, Feb. 20

Shane Alexander's album release show goes off tonight at the Troubadour. ... Halestorm rocks the Viper Room. ... And the Minor Canon and the Snow perform at Club NME at Spaceland.

I suppose it was inevitable that the Presidents of the United States of America would resurface this year. Could've sworn these guys broke up about 1998, but the bio tells me they've been back it full-time since 2004. Now comes the news that they have a new album "These Are the Good Times People" (what newspapers have they been reading?) due March 11 and they have re-teamed with "Weird Al" Yankovic for the video to its first single "Mixed Up S.O.B.," which you can hear here.

I mention this to note the strange whims of remembering the 1990s. PUSA sold millions of albums (4.5 million of their debut), and yet when the e-mail landed about their upcoming album, I could not remember a single one of their songs. The disposable nature of pop-punk? Possibly. The disposable nature of PUSA's pop-punk? Probably.

On the other hand, the news landed last week about another rock radio mainstay of that era, the newly reformed Filter. Richard Patrick and gang are back after five years ("Anthems for the Damned," due in May), and as soon as I saw the band's name in the subject field, "Hey Man, Nice Shot" lodged itself in my brain and simply would not go away for three days.

The big debuts by PUSA and Filter both came out in 1995, and each remains on my shelf at home. But only one remains in the inventory of my brain. Happens to you too? Please share (and, yes, take potshots at my musical tastes in 1995 all you want ...)

||| Live: PUSA plays March 19 at the House of Blues Anaheim and March 21 at the Roxy.

||| Live: Filter (no new songs on their MySpace yet) has no L.A.-area dates scheduled yet, but they're at the Casbah in San Diego on March 2.

Photo of Richard Patrick by Andrew Pinter

Highlights for Monday, Feb. 18

Dengue Fever headlines the Indie 103.1 night at the Viper Room. ... Film School plays the warm-up slot for the Pity Party's Spaceland residency. ... Robert Francis continues his Silverlake Lounge residency with guests Dawes (members of now-defunct Simon Dawes). ... Casket Salesmen and four other bands bring the rock at a free show at the Troubadour. ... And at the Echo, the Henry Clay People toast producer David Newton (who helmed their "Working Part Time" EP) by welcoming three other Newton-produced local bands onto the bill -- the Happy Hollows, Kissing Tigers and Death to Anders.

Easy as "1 2 3 4" -- Feist, the 31-year-old Canadian torch singer and Grammy nominee for best new artist, will be coming to the Hollywood Bowl for a headlining gig on July 20.  The Toronto native's striking chamber pop will be counterposed that evening by the stirring soul stylings of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. There's no on-sale date for tickets yet, and a third artist is likely to be added to the show.

The Bowl's pop/rock offerings are shaping up for the summer. Earlier this morning, a May 27 show featuring the Police and Elvis Costello and the Imposters was announced (tickets on sale Feb. 24). Mary J Blige and Jay-Z have an April 16 show; the Cure are scheduled for May 31; Sgt. Pepper's Revisited with Cheap Trick goes off June 20; Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers play on June 25; Gilbert Gil and Devendra Banhart team up on June 29; Gnarls Barkley parties on July 27; and UB40 pays a visit on Aug. 3.

Update: It's not on the Bowl's website yet, but it's on the band's: R.E.M. is playing the Bowl on May 29. And it should be pointed out that the Feist, Gil/Banhart, Barkley and UB40 shows are part of KCRW-FM's World Music series.

Photo of Feist playing KROQ-FM's Almost Acoustic Christmas show by Lawrence K. Ho / LAT

Our Charlie Amter has the scoop -- the Viper Room has been sold to Harry Morton.

Details at The Times' music blog, Soundboard.

Gary Folgner, whose Galaxy Concert Theatre will close at the end of the month when the Santa Ana space gives way to renovations for a mega-nightlcub, vows to return. "I think you'll see us pop up with another venue, maybe within a year," says Folgner, who runs the Coach House in southern Orange County but lost the lease on his central-county hub for live music. "We're in a funny market right now, with what's happening to real estate."

Certainly, what happened to the Galaxy's piece of real estate came as a surprise after Folgner's 13 years helming the club. "New guys came in, and they had more money than sin," he says. "It's a blow -- I didn't expect it to come down like that."

Punk rock and heavy metal music may be most affected, especially with the House of Blues Anaheim landlord -- the Walt Disney Co. -- excising certain harder-edged acts from the bills there. In fact, after the British band Gallows was dropped from an opening slot on a punk-rock bill there, the frontman of headlining Social Distortion, Mike Ness, told the crowd how nice it would be if the House of Blues could be picked up and moved to Costa Mesa, "so we could have a real venue." (Social D's brand of punk, apparently, passes muster; or could it be the long string of sold-out shows at HOBA?)

The Galaxy's final punk show promises to be a doozy -- Feb. 21 with TSOL, Agent Orange and D.I.

Highlights for Monday, Feb. 11

The Night Marchers, the new project of Rocket From the Crypt frontman John Reis, plays a show tonight at All-Star Lanes in Eagle Rock. ... Radars to the Sky and the Coral Sea highlight the Viper Room bill for Indie 103.1's "Check ... One, Two" show. ... Great Monday residencies continue, with Karin Tatoyan and Twilight Sleep supporting Spaceland residents the Pity Party, the Henry Clay People promising a night of covers and guest cameos at the Echo,  Tiffany Randol opening for Robert Francis at the Silverlake Lounge,  and Rickie Lee Jones holding forth a second week at the Echoplex.

Photo of the Henry clay People's Joey Siara by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Bear with me if this is old news to you -- it'll only take a second.

I wasn't aware until now that the Eels had attempted to buy a 1-second television ad during the Super Bowl to hawk its B-sides/rarities release. Super Bowl ads, after all, go for $100,000 per second, and that's about what the band could afford. It didn't quite work out.

But they made the ad anyway:

Up-to-the-minute coverage of the Grammys, courtesy of Todd Martens' live blog.

See Extended Play.

The Galaxy Concert Theatre, a staple of the live-music scene in Orange County for 13 years, is closing at the end of February, and new owners will debut an uber-nightclub in the Santa Ana space on June 1.

Gary Folgner, the Galaxy owner who also runs the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, could not immediately be reached for comment. The Galaxy's transition will not affect the Coach House.

A spokesperson for the Mor Project, a new restaurant/nightclub management group helmed by Anton Posniak, said the new, 25,000-square-foot club called RevolveR would cater to upscale clubgoers, offering multiple rooms of entertainment, myriad VIP areas, fireplaces, indoor/outdoor seating and eight full-service bars. Additionally, plans call for RevolveR's design theme to change every few months -- sort of a planned makeover.

The Mor Project is the same group behind soon-to-open venues the Rustic Vine (in the Irvine Spectrum) and the Irezumi Sushi Lounge in Costa Mesa.

-- With reporting from Charlie Amter

[This blogger is having a not-so-super Tuesday and is a little under the weather. Quickly and randomly:]

Headphones on. Here's the new video from New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers, who will be back in Los Angeles spreading doom and distortion on March 1 at Spaceland:

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Spent some spare change at iTunes today acquiring a new benefit CD titled "New Orleans: You're Not Alone." It's a joint effort of OK Go and the New Orleans brass band Bonerama (so named because of the four trombones in the band). Proceeds from the EP -- which features three OK Go songs reworked and two covers (including a cool version of David Bowie's "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide") -- benefit musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Feb. 5

The Harpeth Trace celebrates the release of its album, "On Disappearing" with a show at Safari Sam's -- Falling James in the LA Weekly captured what they do quite well in his preview here. ... Dance-rock trio Pop Noir kicks off its residency at the Key Club; Ari Shine and Maxeen are playing at the free, all-ages show as well. ... Over at the Troubadour, Black Mountain will play to a sold-out room. ... We Are Wolves rocks the Tuesday Cinespace party. ... And blasts-from-the-past Blue Cheer play the Knitting Factory.

Hot Chip's sold-out show tonight at the El Rey Theatre has been postponed due to illness. The British outfit played a show in New York on Saturday and apparently Felix Martin barely made it through that one, Brooklyn Vegan reported. A Goldenvoice spokesperson said tickets for tonight's show will be honored on the new date.

[The press release today from Beck's people:]

"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."

That is all. Enjoy your day.

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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

The Cold War Kids want their song back.

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.

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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:

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

Tickets are $35 through the festival websites Thursday and Friday, then $40 through Ticketmaster starting Saturday morning.

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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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

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Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

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Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

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Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

◊ ◊ ◊.

2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

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Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

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Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

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Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

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Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

'Nataline' tribute song benefits Sarkisyan family

Presidential candidate John Edwards wasn't the only person moved by the story of Nataline Sarkisyan, the 17-year-old from Northridge who died in December of complications from leukemia and whose family's battles with its insurance carrier became headline news. Two local musicians, producer/beatmaker/lyricist ailment (Tony Barkodarian) and rapper/lyricist eye2eye (Mike Chakrian), were touched too.

"We didn't know Nataline personally, but I grew up in the same area and the whole story hit very close to home," says Barkodarian, a Northridge native who now lives in Glendale. "The best catchphrase I heard was 'murder by spreadsheet' -- that's exactly what it was."

After Sarkisyan's death, Chakrian posted some lyrics on MySpace, and upon seeing them Barkodarian was inspired to write a beat. The pair got together and recorded a song, "Nataline," and have made it available for download. Proceeds from the download ($1.99) go to the Sarkisyan family.

Learn more and download "Nataline" here.

Highlights for tonight, Feb. 20

Shane Alexander's album release show goes off tonight at the Troubadour. ... Halestorm rocks the Viper Room. ... And the Minor Canon and the Snow perform at Club NME at Spaceland.

I suppose it was inevitable that the Presidents of the United States of America would resurface this year. Could've sworn these guys broke up about 1998, but the bio tells me they've been back it full-time since 2004. Now comes the news that they have a new album "These Are the Good Times People" (what newspapers have they been reading?) due March 11 and they have re-teamed with "Weird Al" Yankovic for the video to its first single "Mixed Up S.O.B.," which you can hear here.

I mention this to note the strange whims of remembering the 1990s. PUSA sold millions of albums (4.5 million of their debut), and yet when the e-mail landed about their upcoming album, I could not remember a single one of their songs. The disposable nature of pop-punk? Possibly. The disposable nature of PUSA's pop-punk? Probably.

On the other hand, the news landed last week about another rock radio mainstay of that era, the newly reformed Filter. Richard Patrick and gang are back after five years ("Anthems for the Damned," due in May), and as soon as I saw the band's name in the subject field, "Hey Man, Nice Shot" lodged itself in my brain and simply would not go away for three days.

The big debuts by PUSA and Filter both came out in 1995, and each remains on my shelf at home. But only one remains in the inventory of my brain. Happens to you too? Please share (and, yes, take potshots at my musical tastes in 1995 all you want ...)

||| Live: PUSA plays March 19 at the House of Blues Anaheim and March 21 at the Roxy.

||| Live: Filter (no new songs on their MySpace yet) has no L.A.-area dates scheduled yet, but they're at the Casbah in San Diego on March 2.

Photo of Richard Patrick by Andrew Pinter

Highlights for Monday, Feb. 18

Dengue Fever headlines the Indie 103.1 night at the Viper Room. ... Film School plays the warm-up slot for the Pity Party's Spaceland residency. ... Robert Francis continues his Silverlake Lounge residency with guests Dawes (members of now-defunct Simon Dawes). ... Casket Salesmen and four other bands bring the rock at a free show at the Troubadour. ... And at the Echo, the Henry Clay People toast producer David Newton (who helmed their "Working Part Time" EP) by welcoming three other Newton-produced local bands onto the bill -- the Happy Hollows, Kissing Tigers and Death to Anders.

Easy as "1 2 3 4" -- Feist, the 31-year-old Canadian torch singer and Grammy nominee for best new artist, will be coming to the Hollywood Bowl for a headlining gig on July 20.  The Toronto native's striking chamber pop will be counterposed that evening by the stirring soul stylings of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. There's no on-sale date for tickets yet, and a third artist is likely to be added to the show.

The Bowl's pop/rock offerings are shaping up for the summer. Earlier this morning, a May 27 show featuring the Police and Elvis Costello and the Imposters was announced (tickets on sale Feb. 24). Mary J Blige and Jay-Z have an April 16 show; the Cure are scheduled for May 31; Sgt. Pepper's Revisited with Cheap Trick goes off June 20; Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers play on June 25; Gilbert Gil and Devendra Banhart team up on June 29; Gnarls Barkley parties on July 27; and UB40 pays a visit on Aug. 3.

Update: It's not on the Bowl's website yet, but it's on the band's: R.E.M. is playing the Bowl on May 29. And it should be pointed out that the Feist, Gil/Banhart, Barkley and UB40 shows are part of KCRW-FM's World Music series.

Photo of Feist playing KROQ-FM's Almost Acoustic Christmas show by Lawrence K. Ho / LAT

Our Charlie Amter has the scoop -- the Viper Room has been sold to Harry Morton.

Details at The Times' music blog, Soundboard.

Gary Folgner, whose Galaxy Concert Theatre will close at the end of the month when the Santa Ana space gives way to renovations for a mega-nightlcub, vows to return. "I think you'll see us pop up with another venue, maybe within a year," says Folgner, who runs the Coach House in southern Orange County but lost the lease on his central-county hub for live music. "We're in a funny market right now, with what's happening to real estate."

Certainly, what happened to the Galaxy's piece of real estate came as a surprise after Folgner's 13 years helming the club. "New guys came in, and they had more money than sin," he says. "It's a blow -- I didn't expect it to come down like that."

Punk rock and heavy metal music may be most affected, especially with the House of Blues Anaheim landlord -- the Walt Disney Co. -- excising certain harder-edged acts from the bills there. In fact, after the British band Gallows was dropped from an opening slot on a punk-rock bill there, the frontman of headlining Social Distortion, Mike Ness, told the crowd how nice it would be if the House of Blues could be picked up and moved to Costa Mesa, "so we could have a real venue." (Social D's brand of punk, apparently, passes muster; or could it be the long string of sold-out shows at HOBA?)

The Galaxy's final punk show promises to be a doozy -- Feb. 21 with TSOL, Agent Orange and D.I.

Highlights for Monday, Feb. 11

The Night Marchers, the new project of Rocket From the Crypt frontman John Reis, plays a show tonight at All-Star Lanes in Eagle Rock. ... Radars to the Sky and the Coral Sea highlight the Viper Room bill for Indie 103.1's "Check ... One, Two" show. ... Great Monday residencies continue, with Karin Tatoyan and Twilight Sleep supporting Spaceland residents the Pity Party, the Henry Clay People promising a night of covers and guest cameos at the Echo,  Tiffany Randol opening for Robert Francis at the Silverlake Lounge,  and Rickie Lee Jones holding forth a second week at the Echoplex.

Photo of the Henry clay People's Joey Siara by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Bear with me if this is old news to you -- it'll only take a second.

I wasn't aware until now that the Eels had attempted to buy a 1-second television ad during the Super Bowl to hawk its B-sides/rarities release. Super Bowl ads, after all, go for $100,000 per second, and that's about what the band could afford. It didn't quite work out.

But they made the ad anyway:

Up-to-the-minute coverage of the Grammys, courtesy of Todd Martens' live blog.

See Extended Play.

The Galaxy Concert Theatre, a staple of the live-music scene in Orange County for 13 years, is closing at the end of February, and new owners will debut an uber-nightclub in the Santa Ana space on June 1.

Gary Folgner, the Galaxy owner who also runs the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, could not immediately be reached for comment. The Galaxy's transition will not affect the Coach House.

A spokesperson for the Mor Project, a new restaurant/nightclub management group helmed by Anton Posniak, said the new, 25,000-square-foot club called RevolveR would cater to upscale clubgoers, offering multiple rooms of entertainment, myriad VIP areas, fireplaces, indoor/outdoor seating and eight full-service bars. Additionally, plans call for RevolveR's design theme to change every few months -- sort of a planned makeover.

The Mor Project is the same group behind soon-to-open venues the Rustic Vine (in the Irvine Spectrum) and the Irezumi Sushi Lounge in Costa Mesa.

-- With reporting from Charlie Amter

[This blogger is having a not-so-super Tuesday and is a little under the weather. Quickly and randomly:]

Headphones on. Here's the new video from New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers, who will be back in Los Angeles spreading doom and distortion on March 1 at Spaceland:

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Spent some spare change at iTunes today acquiring a new benefit CD titled "New Orleans: You're Not Alone." It's a joint effort of OK Go and the New Orleans brass band Bonerama (so named because of the four trombones in the band). Proceeds from the EP -- which features three OK Go songs reworked and two covers (including a cool version of David Bowie's "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide") -- benefit musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Feb. 5

The Harpeth Trace celebrates the release of its album, "On Disappearing" with a show at Safari Sam's -- Falling James in the LA Weekly captured what they do quite well in his preview here. ... Dance-rock trio Pop Noir kicks off its residency at the Key Club; Ari Shine and Maxeen are playing at the free, all-ages show as well. ... Over at the Troubadour, Black Mountain will play to a sold-out room. ... We Are Wolves rocks the Tuesday Cinespace party. ... And blasts-from-the-past Blue Cheer play the Knitting Factory.

Hot Chip's sold-out show tonight at the El Rey Theatre has been postponed due to illness. The British outfit played a show in New York on Saturday and apparently Felix Martin barely made it through that one, Brooklyn Vegan reported. A Goldenvoice spokesperson said tickets for tonight's show will be honored on the new date.

[The press release today from Beck's people:]

"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."

That is all. Enjoy your day.

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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

The Cold War Kids want their song back.

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.

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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:

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

Tickets are $35 through the festival websites Thursday and Friday, then $40 through Ticketmaster starting Saturday morning.

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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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

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Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

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Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

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Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

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2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

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Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

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Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

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Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

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Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Filtered thoughts on Presidents' Day

I suppose it was inevitable that the Presidents of the United States of America would resurface this year. Could've sworn these guys broke up about 1998, but the bio tells me they've been back it full-time since 2004. Now comes the news that they have a new album "These Are the Good Times People" (what newspapers have they been reading?) due March 11 and they have re-teamed with "Weird Al" Yankovic for the video to its first single "Mixed Up S.O.B.," which you can hear here.

I mention this to note the strange whims of remembering the 1990s. PUSA sold millions of albums (4.5 million of their debut), and yet when the e-mail landed about their upcoming album, I could not remember a single one of their songs. The disposable nature of pop-punk? Possibly. The disposable nature of PUSA's pop-punk? Probably.

On the other hand, the news landed last week about another rock radio mainstay of that era, the newly reformed Filter. Richard Patrick and gang are back after five years ("Anthems for the Damned," due in May), and as soon as I saw the band's name in the subject field, "Hey Man, Nice Shot" lodged itself in my brain and simply would not go away for three days.

The big debuts by PUSA and Filter both came out in 1995, and each remains on my shelf at home. But only one remains in the inventory of my brain. Happens to you too? Please share (and, yes, take potshots at my musical tastes in 1995 all you want ...)

||| Live: PUSA plays March 19 at the House of Blues Anaheim and March 21 at the Roxy.

||| Live: Filter (no new songs on their MySpace yet) has no L.A.-area dates scheduled yet, but they're at the Casbah in San Diego on March 2.

Photo of Richard Patrick by Andrew Pinter

Highlights for Monday, Feb. 18

Dengue Fever headlines the Indie 103.1 night at the Viper Room. ... Film School plays the warm-up slot for the Pity Party's Spaceland residency. ... Robert Francis continues his Silverlake Lounge residency with guests Dawes (members of now-defunct Simon Dawes). ... Casket Salesmen and four other bands bring the rock at a free show at the Troubadour. ... And at the Echo, the Henry Clay People toast producer David Newton (who helmed their "Working Part Time" EP) by welcoming three other Newton-produced local bands onto the bill -- the Happy Hollows, Kissing Tigers and Death to Anders.

Easy as "1 2 3 4" -- Feist, the 31-year-old Canadian torch singer and Grammy nominee for best new artist, will be coming to the Hollywood Bowl for a headlining gig on July 20.  The Toronto native's striking chamber pop will be counterposed that evening by the stirring soul stylings of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. There's no on-sale date for tickets yet, and a third artist is likely to be added to the show.

The Bowl's pop/rock offerings are shaping up for the summer. Earlier this morning, a May 27 show featuring the Police and Elvis Costello and the Imposters was announced (tickets on sale Feb. 24). Mary J Blige and Jay-Z have an April 16 show; the Cure are scheduled for May 31; Sgt. Pepper's Revisited with Cheap Trick goes off June 20; Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers play on June 25; Gilbert Gil and Devendra Banhart team up on June 29; Gnarls Barkley parties on July 27; and UB40 pays a visit on Aug. 3.

Update: It's not on the Bowl's website yet, but it's on the band's: R.E.M. is playing the Bowl on May 29. And it should be pointed out that the Feist, Gil/Banhart, Barkley and UB40 shows are part of KCRW-FM's World Music series.

Photo of Feist playing KROQ-FM's Almost Acoustic Christmas show by Lawrence K. Ho / LAT

Our Charlie Amter has the scoop -- the Viper Room has been sold to Harry Morton.

Details at The Times' music blog, Soundboard.

Gary Folgner, whose Galaxy Concert Theatre will close at the end of the month when the Santa Ana space gives way to renovations for a mega-nightlcub, vows to return. "I think you'll see us pop up with another venue, maybe within a year," says Folgner, who runs the Coach House in southern Orange County but lost the lease on his central-county hub for live music. "We're in a funny market right now, with what's happening to real estate."

Certainly, what happened to the Galaxy's piece of real estate came as a surprise after Folgner's 13 years helming the club. "New guys came in, and they had more money than sin," he says. "It's a blow -- I didn't expect it to come down like that."

Punk rock and heavy metal music may be most affected, especially with the House of Blues Anaheim landlord -- the Walt Disney Co. -- excising certain harder-edged acts from the bills there. In fact, after the British band Gallows was dropped from an opening slot on a punk-rock bill there, the frontman of headlining Social Distortion, Mike Ness, told the crowd how nice it would be if the House of Blues could be picked up and moved to Costa Mesa, "so we could have a real venue." (Social D's brand of punk, apparently, passes muster; or could it be the long string of sold-out shows at HOBA?)

The Galaxy's final punk show promises to be a doozy -- Feb. 21 with TSOL, Agent Orange and D.I.

Highlights for Monday, Feb. 11

The Night Marchers, the new project of Rocket From the Crypt frontman John Reis, plays a show tonight at All-Star Lanes in Eagle Rock. ... Radars to the Sky and the Coral Sea highlight the Viper Room bill for Indie 103.1's "Check ... One, Two" show. ... Great Monday residencies continue, with Karin Tatoyan and Twilight Sleep supporting Spaceland residents the Pity Party, the Henry Clay People promising a night of covers and guest cameos at the Echo,  Tiffany Randol opening for Robert Francis at the Silverlake Lounge,  and Rickie Lee Jones holding forth a second week at the Echoplex.

Photo of the Henry clay People's Joey Siara by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Bear with me if this is old news to you -- it'll only take a second.

I wasn't aware until now that the Eels had attempted to buy a 1-second television ad during the Super Bowl to hawk its B-sides/rarities release. Super Bowl ads, after all, go for $100,000 per second, and that's about what the band could afford. It didn't quite work out.

But they made the ad anyway:

Up-to-the-minute coverage of the Grammys, courtesy of Todd Martens' live blog.

See Extended Play.

The Galaxy Concert Theatre, a staple of the live-music scene in Orange County for 13 years, is closing at the end of February, and new owners will debut an uber-nightclub in the Santa Ana space on June 1.

Gary Folgner, the Galaxy owner who also runs the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, could not immediately be reached for comment. The Galaxy's transition will not affect the Coach House.

A spokesperson for the Mor Project, a new restaurant/nightclub management group helmed by Anton Posniak, said the new, 25,000-square-foot club called RevolveR would cater to upscale clubgoers, offering multiple rooms of entertainment, myriad VIP areas, fireplaces, indoor/outdoor seating and eight full-service bars. Additionally, plans call for RevolveR's design theme to change every few months -- sort of a planned makeover.

The Mor Project is the same group behind soon-to-open venues the Rustic Vine (in the Irvine Spectrum) and the Irezumi Sushi Lounge in Costa Mesa.

-- With reporting from Charlie Amter

[This blogger is having a not-so-super Tuesday and is a little under the weather. Quickly and randomly:]

Headphones on. Here's the new video from New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers, who will be back in Los Angeles spreading doom and distortion on March 1 at Spaceland:

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Spent some spare change at iTunes today acquiring a new benefit CD titled "New Orleans: You're Not Alone." It's a joint effort of OK Go and the New Orleans brass band Bonerama (so named because of the four trombones in the band). Proceeds from the EP -- which features three OK Go songs reworked and two covers (including a cool version of David Bowie's "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide") -- benefit musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Feb. 5

The Harpeth Trace celebrates the release of its album, "On Disappearing" with a show at Safari Sam's -- Falling James in the LA Weekly captured what they do quite well in his preview here. ... Dance-rock trio Pop Noir kicks off its residency at the Key Club; Ari Shine and Maxeen are playing at the free, all-ages show as well. ... Over at the Troubadour, Black Mountain will play to a sold-out room. ... We Are Wolves rocks the Tuesday Cinespace party. ... And blasts-from-the-past Blue Cheer play the Knitting Factory.

Hot Chip's sold-out show tonight at the El Rey Theatre has been postponed due to illness. The British outfit played a show in New York on Saturday and apparently Felix Martin barely made it through that one, Brooklyn Vegan reported. A Goldenvoice spokesperson said tickets for tonight's show will be honored on the new date.

[The press release today from Beck's people:]

"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."

That is all. Enjoy your day.

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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

The Cold War Kids want their song back.

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.

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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:

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

Tickets are $35 through the festival websites Thursday and Friday, then $40 through Ticketmaster starting Saturday morning.

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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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

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Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

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Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

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Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

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2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

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Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

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Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

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Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

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Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Feist headlining Hollywood Bowl on July 20

Easy as "1 2 3 4" -- Feist, the 31-year-old Canadian torch singer and Grammy nominee for best new artist, will be coming to the Hollywood Bowl for a headlining gig on July 20.  The Toronto native's striking chamber pop will be counterposed that evening by the stirring soul stylings of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. There's no on-sale date for tickets yet, and a third artist is likely to be added to the show.

The Bowl's pop/rock offerings are shaping up for the summer. Earlier this morning, a May 27 show featuring the Police and Elvis Costello and the Imposters was announced (tickets on sale Feb. 24). Mary J Blige and Jay-Z have an April 16 show; the Cure are scheduled for May 31; Sgt. Pepper's Revisited with Cheap Trick goes off June 20; Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers play on June 25; Gilbert Gil and Devendra Banhart team up on June 29; Gnarls Barkley parties on July 27; and UB40 pays a visit on Aug. 3.

Update: It's not on the Bowl's website yet, but it's on the band's: R.E.M. is playing the Bowl on May 29. And it should be pointed out that the Feist, Gil/Banhart, Barkley and UB40 shows are part of KCRW-FM's World Music series.

Photo of Feist playing KROQ-FM's Almost Acoustic Christmas show by Lawrence K. Ho / LAT

Our Charlie Amter has the scoop -- the Viper Room has been sold to Harry Morton.

Details at The Times' music blog, Soundboard.

Gary Folgner, whose Galaxy Concert Theatre will close at the end of the month when the Santa Ana space gives way to renovations for a mega-nightlcub, vows to return. "I think you'll see us pop up with another venue, maybe within a year," says Folgner, who runs the Coach House in southern Orange County but lost the lease on his central-county hub for live music. "We're in a funny market right now, with what's happening to real estate."

Certainly, what happened to the Galaxy's piece of real estate came as a surprise after Folgner's 13 years helming the club. "New guys came in, and they had more money than sin," he says. "It's a blow -- I didn't expect it to come down like that."

Punk rock and heavy metal music may be most affected, especially with the House of Blues Anaheim landlord -- the Walt Disney Co. -- excising certain harder-edged acts from the bills there. In fact, after the British band Gallows was dropped from an opening slot on a punk-rock bill there, the frontman of headlining Social Distortion, Mike Ness, told the crowd how nice it would be if the House of Blues could be picked up and moved to Costa Mesa, "so we could have a real venue." (Social D's brand of punk, apparently, passes muster; or could it be the long string of sold-out shows at HOBA?)

The Galaxy's final punk show promises to be a doozy -- Feb. 21 with TSOL, Agent Orange and D.I.

Highlights for Monday, Feb. 11

The Night Marchers, the new project of Rocket From the Crypt frontman John Reis, plays a show tonight at All-Star Lanes in Eagle Rock. ... Radars to the Sky and the Coral Sea highlight the Viper Room bill for Indie 103.1's "Check ... One, Two" show. ... Great Monday residencies continue, with Karin Tatoyan and Twilight Sleep supporting Spaceland residents the Pity Party, the Henry Clay People promising a night of covers and guest cameos at the Echo,  Tiffany Randol opening for Robert Francis at the Silverlake Lounge,  and Rickie Lee Jones holding forth a second week at the Echoplex.

Photo of the Henry clay People's Joey Siara by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Bear with me if this is old news to you -- it'll only take a second.

I wasn't aware until now that the Eels had attempted to buy a 1-second television ad during the Super Bowl to hawk its B-sides/rarities release. Super Bowl ads, after all, go for $100,000 per second, and that's about what the band could afford. It didn't quite work out.

But they made the ad anyway:

Up-to-the-minute coverage of the Grammys, courtesy of Todd Martens' live blog.

See Extended Play.

The Galaxy Concert Theatre, a staple of the live-music scene in Orange County for 13 years, is closing at the end of February, and new owners will debut an uber-nightclub in the Santa Ana space on June 1.

Gary Folgner, the Galaxy owner who also runs the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, could not immediately be reached for comment. The Galaxy's transition will not affect the Coach House.

A spokesperson for the Mor Project, a new restaurant/nightclub management group helmed by Anton Posniak, said the new, 25,000-square-foot club called RevolveR would cater to upscale clubgoers, offering multiple rooms of entertainment, myriad VIP areas, fireplaces, indoor/outdoor seating and eight full-service bars. Additionally, plans call for RevolveR's design theme to change every few months -- sort of a planned makeover.

The Mor Project is the same group behind soon-to-open venues the Rustic Vine (in the Irvine Spectrum) and the Irezumi Sushi Lounge in Costa Mesa.

-- With reporting from Charlie Amter

[This blogger is having a not-so-super Tuesday and is a little under the weather. Quickly and randomly:]

Headphones on. Here's the new video from New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers, who will be back in Los Angeles spreading doom and distortion on March 1 at Spaceland:

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Spent some spare change at iTunes today acquiring a new benefit CD titled "New Orleans: You're Not Alone." It's a joint effort of OK Go and the New Orleans brass band Bonerama (so named because of the four trombones in the band). Proceeds from the EP -- which features three OK Go songs reworked and two covers (including a cool version of David Bowie's "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide") -- benefit musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Feb. 5

The Harpeth Trace celebrates the release of its album, "On Disappearing" with a show at Safari Sam's -- Falling James in the LA Weekly captured what they do quite well in his preview here. ... Dance-rock trio Pop Noir kicks off its residency at the Key Club; Ari Shine and Maxeen are playing at the free, all-ages show as well. ... Over at the Troubadour, Black Mountain will play to a sold-out room. ... We Are Wolves rocks the Tuesday Cinespace party. ... And blasts-from-the-past Blue Cheer play the Knitting Factory.

Hot Chip's sold-out show tonight at the El Rey Theatre has been postponed due to illness. The British outfit played a show in New York on Saturday and apparently Felix Martin barely made it through that one, Brooklyn Vegan reported. A Goldenvoice spokesperson said tickets for tonight's show will be honored on the new date.

[The press release today from Beck's people:]

"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."

That is all. Enjoy your day.

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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

The Cold War Kids want their song back.

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.

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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:

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

Tickets are $35 through the festival websites Thursday and Friday, then $40 through Ticketmaster starting Saturday morning.

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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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

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Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

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Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

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Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

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2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

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Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

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Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

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Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

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Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Viper Room: under new ownership

Our Charlie Amter has the scoop -- the Viper Room has been sold to Harry Morton.

Details at The Times' music blog, Soundboard.

Gary Folgner, whose Galaxy Concert Theatre will close at the end of the month when the Santa Ana space gives way to renovations for a mega-nightlcub, vows to return. "I think you'll see us pop up with another venue, maybe within a year," says Folgner, who runs the Coach House in southern Orange County but lost the lease on his central-county hub for live music. "We're in a funny market right now, with what's happening to real estate."

Certainly, what happened to the Galaxy's piece of real estate came as a surprise after Folgner's 13 years helming the club. "New guys came in, and they had more money than sin," he says. "It's a blow -- I didn't expect it to come down like that."

Punk rock and heavy metal music may be most affected, especially with the House of Blues Anaheim landlord -- the Walt Disney Co. -- excising certain harder-edged acts from the bills there. In fact, after the British band Gallows was dropped from an opening slot on a punk-rock bill there, the frontman of headlining Social Distortion, Mike Ness, told the crowd how nice it would be if the House of Blues could be picked up and moved to Costa Mesa, "so we could have a real venue." (Social D's brand of punk, apparently, passes muster; or could it be the long string of sold-out shows at HOBA?)

The Galaxy's final punk show promises to be a doozy -- Feb. 21 with TSOL, Agent Orange and D.I.

Highlights for Monday, Feb. 11

The Night Marchers, the new project of Rocket From the Crypt frontman John Reis, plays a show tonight at All-Star Lanes in Eagle Rock. ... Radars to the Sky and the Coral Sea highlight the Viper Room bill for Indie 103.1's "Check ... One, Two" show. ... Great Monday residencies continue, with Karin Tatoyan and Twilight Sleep supporting Spaceland residents the Pity Party, the Henry Clay People promising a night of covers and guest cameos at the Echo,  Tiffany Randol opening for Robert Francis at the Silverlake Lounge,  and Rickie Lee Jones holding forth a second week at the Echoplex.

Photo of the Henry clay People's Joey Siara by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Bear with me if this is old news to you -- it'll only take a second.

I wasn't aware until now that the Eels had attempted to buy a 1-second television ad during the Super Bowl to hawk its B-sides/rarities release. Super Bowl ads, after all, go for $100,000 per second, and that's about what the band could afford. It didn't quite work out.

But they made the ad anyway:

Up-to-the-minute coverage of the Grammys, courtesy of Todd Martens' live blog.

See Extended Play.

The Galaxy Concert Theatre, a staple of the live-music scene in Orange County for 13 years, is closing at the end of February, and new owners will debut an uber-nightclub in the Santa Ana space on June 1.

Gary Folgner, the Galaxy owner who also runs the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, could not immediately be reached for comment. The Galaxy's transition will not affect the Coach House.

A spokesperson for the Mor Project, a new restaurant/nightclub management group helmed by Anton Posniak, said the new, 25,000-square-foot club called RevolveR would cater to upscale clubgoers, offering multiple rooms of entertainment, myriad VIP areas, fireplaces, indoor/outdoor seating and eight full-service bars. Additionally, plans call for RevolveR's design theme to change every few months -- sort of a planned makeover.

The Mor Project is the same group behind soon-to-open venues the Rustic Vine (in the Irvine Spectrum) and the Irezumi Sushi Lounge in Costa Mesa.

-- With reporting from Charlie Amter

[This blogger is having a not-so-super Tuesday and is a little under the weather. Quickly and randomly:]

Headphones on. Here's the new video from New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers, who will be back in Los Angeles spreading doom and distortion on March 1 at Spaceland:

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Spent some spare change at iTunes today acquiring a new benefit CD titled "New Orleans: You're Not Alone." It's a joint effort of OK Go and the New Orleans brass band Bonerama (so named because of the four trombones in the band). Proceeds from the EP -- which features three OK Go songs reworked and two covers (including a cool version of David Bowie's "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide") -- benefit musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Feb. 5

The Harpeth Trace celebrates the release of its album, "On Disappearing" with a show at Safari Sam's -- Falling James in the LA Weekly captured what they do quite well in his preview here. ... Dance-rock trio Pop Noir kicks off its residency at the Key Club; Ari Shine and Maxeen are playing at the free, all-ages show as well. ... Over at the Troubadour, Black Mountain will play to a sold-out room. ... We Are Wolves rocks the Tuesday Cinespace party. ... And blasts-from-the-past Blue Cheer play the Knitting Factory.

Hot Chip's sold-out show tonight at the El Rey Theatre has been postponed due to illness. The British outfit played a show in New York on Saturday and apparently Felix Martin barely made it through that one, Brooklyn Vegan reported. A Goldenvoice spokesperson said tickets for tonight's show will be honored on the new date.

[The press release today from Beck's people:]

"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."

That is all. Enjoy your day.

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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

The Cold War Kids want their song back.

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.

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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:

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

Tickets are $35 through the festival websites Thursday and Friday, then $40 through Ticketmaster starting Saturday morning.

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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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

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Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

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Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

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Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

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2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

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Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

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Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

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Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

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Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Galaxy owner vows to return with new venue

Gary Folgner, whose Galaxy Concert Theatre will close at the end of the month when the Santa Ana space gives way to renovations for a mega-nightlcub, vows to return. "I think you'll see us pop up with another venue, maybe within a year," says Folgner, who runs the Coach House in southern Orange County but lost the lease on his central-county hub for live music. "We're in a funny market right now, with what's happening to real estate."

Certainly, what happened to the Galaxy's piece of real estate came as a surprise after Folgner's 13 years helming the club. "New guys came in, and they had more money than sin," he says. "It's a blow -- I didn't expect it to come down like that."

Punk rock and heavy metal music may be most affected, especially with the House of Blues Anaheim landlord -- the Walt Disney Co. -- excising certain harder-edged acts from the bills there. In fact, after the British band Gallows was dropped from an opening slot on a punk-rock bill there, the frontman of headlining Social Distortion, Mike Ness, told the crowd how nice it would be if the House of Blues could be picked up and moved to Costa Mesa, "so we could have a real venue." (Social D's brand of punk, apparently, passes muster; or could it be the long string of sold-out shows at HOBA?)

The Galaxy's final punk show promises to be a doozy -- Feb. 21 with TSOL, Agent Orange and D.I.

Highlights for Monday, Feb. 11

The Night Marchers, the new project of Rocket From the Crypt frontman John Reis, plays a show tonight at All-Star Lanes in Eagle Rock. ... Radars to the Sky and the Coral Sea highlight the Viper Room bill for Indie 103.1's "Check ... One, Two" show. ... Great Monday residencies continue, with Karin Tatoyan and Twilight Sleep supporting Spaceland residents the Pity Party, the Henry Clay People promising a night of covers and guest cameos at the Echo,  Tiffany Randol opening for Robert Francis at the Silverlake Lounge,  and Rickie Lee Jones holding forth a second week at the Echoplex.

Photo of the Henry clay People's Joey Siara by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Bear with me if this is old news to you -- it'll only take a second.

I wasn't aware until now that the Eels had attempted to buy a 1-second television ad during the Super Bowl to hawk its B-sides/rarities release. Super Bowl ads, after all, go for $100,000 per second, and that's about what the band could afford. It didn't quite work out.

But they made the ad anyway:

Up-to-the-minute coverage of the Grammys, courtesy of Todd Martens' live blog.

See Extended Play.

The Galaxy Concert Theatre, a staple of the live-music scene in Orange County for 13 years, is closing at the end of February, and new owners will debut an uber-nightclub in the Santa Ana space on June 1.

Gary Folgner, the Galaxy owner who also runs the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, could not immediately be reached for comment. The Galaxy's transition will not affect the Coach House.

A spokesperson for the Mor Project, a new restaurant/nightclub management group helmed by Anton Posniak, said the new, 25,000-square-foot club called RevolveR would cater to upscale clubgoers, offering multiple rooms of entertainment, myriad VIP areas, fireplaces, indoor/outdoor seating and eight full-service bars. Additionally, plans call for RevolveR's design theme to change every few months -- sort of a planned makeover.

The Mor Project is the same group behind soon-to-open venues the Rustic Vine (in the Irvine Spectrum) and the Irezumi Sushi Lounge in Costa Mesa.

-- With reporting from Charlie Amter

[This blogger is having a not-so-super Tuesday and is a little under the weather. Quickly and randomly:]

Headphones on. Here's the new video from New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers, who will be back in Los Angeles spreading doom and distortion on March 1 at Spaceland:

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Spent some spare change at iTunes today acquiring a new benefit CD titled "New Orleans: You're Not Alone." It's a joint effort of OK Go and the New Orleans brass band Bonerama (so named because of the four trombones in the band). Proceeds from the EP -- which features three OK Go songs reworked and two covers (including a cool version of David Bowie's "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide") -- benefit musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Feb. 5

The Harpeth Trace celebrates the release of its album, "On Disappearing" with a show at Safari Sam's -- Falling James in the LA Weekly captured what they do quite well in his preview here. ... Dance-rock trio Pop Noir kicks off its residency at the Key Club; Ari Shine and Maxeen are playing at the free, all-ages show as well. ... Over at the Troubadour, Black Mountain will play to a sold-out room. ... We Are Wolves rocks the Tuesday Cinespace party. ... And blasts-from-the-past Blue Cheer play the Knitting Factory.

Hot Chip's sold-out show tonight at the El Rey Theatre has been postponed due to illness. The British outfit played a show in New York on Saturday and apparently Felix Martin barely made it through that one, Brooklyn Vegan reported. A Goldenvoice spokesperson said tickets for tonight's show will be honored on the new date.

[The press release today from Beck's people:]

"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."

That is all. Enjoy your day.

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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

The Cold War Kids want their song back.

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.

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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:

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

Tickets are $35 through the festival websites Thursday and Friday, then $40 through Ticketmaster starting Saturday morning.

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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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

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Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

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Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

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Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

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2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

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Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

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Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

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Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

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Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

A Super Bowl ad you didn't see

Bear with me if this is old news to you -- it'll only take a second.

I wasn't aware until now that the Eels had attempted to buy a 1-second television ad during the Super Bowl to hawk its B-sides/rarities release. Super Bowl ads, after all, go for $100,000 per second, and that's about what the band could afford. It didn't quite work out.

But they made the ad anyway:

Up-to-the-minute coverage of the Grammys, courtesy of Todd Martens' live blog.

See Extended Play.

The Galaxy Concert Theatre, a staple of the live-music scene in Orange County for 13 years, is closing at the end of February, and new owners will debut an uber-nightclub in the Santa Ana space on June 1.

Gary Folgner, the Galaxy owner who also runs the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, could not immediately be reached for comment. The Galaxy's transition will not affect the Coach House.

A spokesperson for the Mor Project, a new restaurant/nightclub management group helmed by Anton Posniak, said the new, 25,000-square-foot club called RevolveR would cater to upscale clubgoers, offering multiple rooms of entertainment, myriad VIP areas, fireplaces, indoor/outdoor seating and eight full-service bars. Additionally, plans call for RevolveR's design theme to change every few months -- sort of a planned makeover.

The Mor Project is the same group behind soon-to-open venues the Rustic Vine (in the Irvine Spectrum) and the Irezumi Sushi Lounge in Costa Mesa.

-- With reporting from Charlie Amter

[This blogger is having a not-so-super Tuesday and is a little under the weather. Quickly and randomly:]

Headphones on. Here's the new video from New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers, who will be back in Los Angeles spreading doom and distortion on March 1 at Spaceland:

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Spent some spare change at iTunes today acquiring a new benefit CD titled "New Orleans: You're Not Alone." It's a joint effort of OK Go and the New Orleans brass band Bonerama (so named because of the four trombones in the band). Proceeds from the EP -- which features three OK Go songs reworked and two covers (including a cool version of David Bowie's "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide") -- benefit musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Feb. 5

The Harpeth Trace celebrates the release of its album, "On Disappearing" with a show at Safari Sam's -- Falling James in the LA Weekly captured what they do quite well in his preview here. ... Dance-rock trio Pop Noir kicks off its residency at the Key Club; Ari Shine and Maxeen are playing at the free, all-ages show as well. ... Over at the Troubadour, Black Mountain will play to a sold-out room. ... We Are Wolves rocks the Tuesday Cinespace party. ... And blasts-from-the-past Blue Cheer play the Knitting Factory.

Hot Chip's sold-out show tonight at the El Rey Theatre has been postponed due to illness. The British outfit played a show in New York on Saturday and apparently Felix Martin barely made it through that one, Brooklyn Vegan reported. A Goldenvoice spokesperson said tickets for tonight's show will be honored on the new date.

[The press release today from Beck's people:]

"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."

That is all. Enjoy your day.

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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

The Cold War Kids want their song back.

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.

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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:

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

Tickets are $35 through the festival websites Thursday and Friday, then $40 through Ticketmaster starting Saturday morning.

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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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

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Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

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Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

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Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

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2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

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Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

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Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

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Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

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Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

The Grammys ... live and blogged

Up-to-the-minute coverage of the Grammys, courtesy of Todd Martens' live blog.

See Extended Play.

The Galaxy Concert Theatre, a staple of the live-music scene in Orange County for 13 years, is closing at the end of February, and new owners will debut an uber-nightclub in the Santa Ana space on June 1.

Gary Folgner, the Galaxy owner who also runs the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, could not immediately be reached for comment. The Galaxy's transition will not affect the Coach House.

A spokesperson for the Mor Project, a new restaurant/nightclub management group helmed by Anton Posniak, said the new, 25,000-square-foot club called RevolveR would cater to upscale clubgoers, offering multiple rooms of entertainment, myriad VIP areas, fireplaces, indoor/outdoor seating and eight full-service bars. Additionally, plans call for RevolveR's design theme to change every few months -- sort of a planned makeover.

The Mor Project is the same group behind soon-to-open venues the Rustic Vine (in the Irvine Spectrum) and the Irezumi Sushi Lounge in Costa Mesa.

-- With reporting from Charlie Amter

[This blogger is having a not-so-super Tuesday and is a little under the weather. Quickly and randomly:]

Headphones on. Here's the new video from New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers, who will be back in Los Angeles spreading doom and distortion on March 1 at Spaceland:

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Spent some spare change at iTunes today acquiring a new benefit CD titled "New Orleans: You're Not Alone." It's a joint effort of OK Go and the New Orleans brass band Bonerama (so named because of the four trombones in the band). Proceeds from the EP -- which features three OK Go songs reworked and two covers (including a cool version of David Bowie's "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide") -- benefit musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Feb. 5

The Harpeth Trace celebrates the release of its album, "On Disappearing" with a show at Safari Sam's -- Falling James in the LA Weekly captured what they do quite well in his preview here. ... Dance-rock trio Pop Noir kicks off its residency at the Key Club; Ari Shine and Maxeen are playing at the free, all-ages show as well. ... Over at the Troubadour, Black Mountain will play to a sold-out room. ... We Are Wolves rocks the Tuesday Cinespace party. ... And blasts-from-the-past Blue Cheer play the Knitting Factory.

Hot Chip's sold-out show tonight at the El Rey Theatre has been postponed due to illness. The British outfit played a show in New York on Saturday and apparently Felix Martin barely made it through that one, Brooklyn Vegan reported. A Goldenvoice spokesperson said tickets for tonight's show will be honored on the new date.

[The press release today from Beck's people:]

"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."

That is all. Enjoy your day.

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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

The Cold War Kids want their song back.

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.

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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:

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

Tickets are $35 through the festival websites Thursday and Friday, then $40 through Ticketmaster starting Saturday morning.

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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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

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Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

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Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

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Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

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2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

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Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

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Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

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Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

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Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Galaxy Theatre to close, give way to mega-club

The Galaxy Concert Theatre, a staple of the live-music scene in Orange County for 13 years, is closing at the end of February, and new owners will debut an uber-nightclub in the Santa Ana space on June 1.

Gary Folgner, the Galaxy owner who also runs the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, could not immediately be reached for comment. The Galaxy's transition will not affect the Coach House.

A spokesperson for the Mor Project, a new restaurant/nightclub management group helmed by Anton Posniak, said the new, 25,000-square-foot club called RevolveR would cater to upscale clubgoers, offering multiple rooms of entertainment, myriad VIP areas, fireplaces, indoor/outdoor seating and eight full-service bars. Additionally, plans call for RevolveR's design theme to change every few months -- sort of a planned makeover.

The Mor Project is the same group behind soon-to-open venues the Rustic Vine (in the Irvine Spectrum) and the Irezumi Sushi Lounge in Costa Mesa.

-- With reporting from Charlie Amter

[This blogger is having a not-so-super Tuesday and is a little under the weather. Quickly and randomly:]

Headphones on. Here's the new video from New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers, who will be back in Los Angeles spreading doom and distortion on March 1 at Spaceland:

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Spent some spare change at iTunes today acquiring a new benefit CD titled "New Orleans: You're Not Alone." It's a joint effort of OK Go and the New Orleans brass band Bonerama (so named because of the four trombones in the band). Proceeds from the EP -- which features three OK Go songs reworked and two covers (including a cool version of David Bowie's "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide") -- benefit musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Feb. 5

The Harpeth Trace celebrates the release of its album, "On Disappearing" with a show at Safari Sam's -- Falling James in the LA Weekly captured what they do quite well in his preview here. ... Dance-rock trio Pop Noir kicks off its residency at the Key Club; Ari Shine and Maxeen are playing at the free, all-ages show as well. ... Over at the Troubadour, Black Mountain will play to a sold-out room. ... We Are Wolves rocks the Tuesday Cinespace party. ... And blasts-from-the-past Blue Cheer play the Knitting Factory.

Hot Chip's sold-out show tonight at the El Rey Theatre has been postponed due to illness. The British outfit played a show in New York on Saturday and apparently Felix Martin barely made it through that one, Brooklyn Vegan reported. A Goldenvoice spokesperson said tickets for tonight's show will be honored on the new date.

[The press release today from Beck's people:]

"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."

That is all. Enjoy your day.

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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

The Cold War Kids want their song back.

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.

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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:

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

Tickets are $35 through the festival websites Thursday and Friday, then $40 through Ticketmaster starting Saturday morning.

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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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

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Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

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Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

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Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

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2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

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Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

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Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

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Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

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Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Tuesday tidbits: Fresh video, fresh (for charity) OK Go music

[This blogger is having a not-so-super Tuesday and is a little under the weather. Quickly and randomly:]

Headphones on. Here's the new video from New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers, who will be back in Los Angeles spreading doom and distortion on March 1 at Spaceland:

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Spent some spare change at iTunes today acquiring a new benefit CD titled "New Orleans: You're Not Alone." It's a joint effort of OK Go and the New Orleans brass band Bonerama (so named because of the four trombones in the band). Proceeds from the EP -- which features three OK Go songs reworked and two covers (including a cool version of David Bowie's "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide") -- benefit musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Feb. 5

The Harpeth Trace celebrates the release of its album, "On Disappearing" with a show at Safari Sam's -- Falling James in the LA Weekly captured what they do quite well in his preview here. ... Dance-rock trio Pop Noir kicks off its residency at the Key Club; Ari Shine and Maxeen are playing at the free, all-ages show as well. ... Over at the Troubadour, Black Mountain will play to a sold-out room. ... We Are Wolves rocks the Tuesday Cinespace party. ... And blasts-from-the-past Blue Cheer play the Knitting Factory.

Hot Chip's sold-out show tonight at the El Rey Theatre has been postponed due to illness. The British outfit played a show in New York on Saturday and apparently Felix Martin barely made it through that one, Brooklyn Vegan reported. A Goldenvoice spokesperson said tickets for tonight's show will be honored on the new date.

[The press release today from Beck's people:]

"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."

That is all. Enjoy your day.

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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

The Cold War Kids want their song back.

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.

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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:

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

Tickets are $35 through the festival websites Thursday and Friday, then $40 through Ticketmaster starting Saturday morning.

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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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

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Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

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Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

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Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

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2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

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Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

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Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

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Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

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Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Hot Chip's show tonight postponed

Hot Chip's sold-out show tonight at the El Rey Theatre has been postponed due to illness. The British outfit played a show in New York on Saturday and apparently Felix Martin barely made it through that one, Brooklyn Vegan reported. A Goldenvoice spokesperson said tickets for tonight's show will be honored on the new date.

[The press release today from Beck's people:]

"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."

That is all. Enjoy your day.

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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

The Cold War Kids want their song back.

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.

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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:

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

Tickets are $35 through the festival websites Thursday and Friday, then $40 through Ticketmaster starting Saturday morning.

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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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

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Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

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Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

◊ ◊ ◊.

Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

◊ ◊ ◊.

2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

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Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

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Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

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Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

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Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Odelay! This has so happened to me ...

[The press release today from Beck's people:]

"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."

That is all. Enjoy your day.

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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

The Cold War Kids want their song back.

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.

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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:

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

Tickets are $35 through the festival websites Thursday and Friday, then $40 through Ticketmaster starting Saturday morning.

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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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

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Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

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Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

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Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

◊ ◊ ◊.

2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

◊ ◊ ◊

Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

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Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

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Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

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Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

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Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Nico Vega's freebies, and other midweek scribblings

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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

The Cold War Kids want their song back.

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.

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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:

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

Tickets are $35 through the festival websites Thursday and Friday, then $40 through Ticketmaster starting Saturday morning.

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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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

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Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

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Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

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Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

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2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

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Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

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Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

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Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

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Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

How to turn a blues song into 'American Bandstand' piffle

The Cold War Kids want their song back.

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.

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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:

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

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Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

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Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

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Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

◊ ◊ ◊.

2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

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Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

◊ ◊ ◊

Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

◊ ◊ ◊

Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

◊ ◊ ◊

Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Dim Mak, Downtown to announce joint venture

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:

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

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Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

◊ ◊ ◊.

Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

◊ ◊ ◊.

Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

◊ ◊ ◊.

2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

◊ ◊ ◊

Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

◊ ◊ ◊

Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

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Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

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Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Paid Dues lineup announced; benefit set for Tony Carbone

[Random midweek things:]

The lineup has been set for the third annual Paid Dues indie hip-hop festival -- Sage Francis, Dilated Peoples and Little Brother will join the likes of Hieroglyphics, Visionaries, Living Legends and Kool Keith at host Murs' gathering. Paid Dues goes off March 22 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino.

Tickets are $35 through the festival websites Thursday and Friday, then $40 through Ticketmaster starting Saturday morning.

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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.

||| Download: "Paper Float"

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.

||| Download: "Northwestern Girls"

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

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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.

Photo by Tony Chavez

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

◊ ◊ ◊

Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

◊ ◊ ◊

Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

◊ ◊ ◊.

Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

◊ ◊ ◊.

Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

◊ ◊ ◊.

2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

◊ ◊ ◊

The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

◊ ◊ ◊

Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

◊ ◊ ◊

Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

◊ ◊ ◊

Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

◊ ◊ ◊

Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

◊ ◊ ◊

Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

◊ ◊ ◊

Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Justice coming back to L.A., as MySpace Tour headliner

Hard to avoid getting spring fever, what with all the Coachella rumors starting to fly and tour announcements flying into my mailbox like Steve Aoki stagedives. This morning's biggie comes from none other than your favorite social networking site (at least until I figure this mess out) -- the 18-date MySpace Music Tour, featuring a bunch of people you like to dance to.

Justice, Diplo and Fancy (and more to be added) will play the tour-ending L.A. date, March 31 at the Mayan Theatre. It'll be a $32 ticket (on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday), and the press release even has MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson weighing in on Justice: "I can't wait to see them on this tour!" Geez. Figured him for a Death Cab guy.

◊ ◊ ◊

Speaking of MySpace, one of its singer-songwriter phenoms, Ingrid Michaelson (pictured), is among the fresh faces on the Hotel Cafe Tour. Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Joshua Radin and a host of others join in on the fourth year of the tour, spawned by the vibrant scene at the Cahuenga Boulevard music venue.

Michaelson is headlining the Troubadour on Jan. 24, and that show is already sold out. Buoyed by a slew of television placements and the seemingly ubiquitous single "The Way I Am," her self-released album "Girls and Boys" has cracked the Billboard charts. The Hotel Cafe tour hits the House of Blues Anaheim on March 8, then comes back around to the Music Box @ Fonda on April 12.

Highlights for Tuesday, Jan. 8

Hard-driving locals Mighty Six Ninety kick off a Tuesday residency at the Key Club. ... KCRW-FM darling Jesca Hoop plays the Hotel Cafe. ... Orange County trio Pop Noir rocks the Dim Mak dance party at Cinespace. ... Oliver Future winds up its residency at the Viper Room. ... And genre-mashers Beatmo play the Silverlake Lounge.

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

◊ ◊ ◊

Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

◊ ◊ ◊.

Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

◊ ◊ ◊.

Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

◊ ◊ ◊.

2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

◊ ◊ ◊

The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

◊ ◊ ◊

Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

◊ ◊ ◊

Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

◊ ◊ ◊

Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

◊ ◊ ◊

Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

◊ ◊ ◊

Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

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Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Everest signs with Neil Young's Vapor Records

Everest, an all-star local quintet whose members sport resumes longer than the intro to "Cortez the Killer," has signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records.

The band (from left, Davey Latter, Jason Soda, Russell Pollard, Rob Douglas and Joel Graves) is putting the finishing touches on its debut, "Ghost Notes," produced by Mike Terry and recorded in Elliott Smith's former New Monkey Studio in L.A. It is scheduled for an April 8 release (with an Amoeba in-store planned for that day).

More on the music later, but you can get a good idea of Everest's direction by checking out "Rebels in the Roses" on the band's MySpace page.

Photo by Dominic DiSaia

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

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Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

◊ ◊ ◊.

Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

◊ ◊ ◊.

Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

◊ ◊ ◊.

2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

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The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

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Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

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Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

◊ ◊ ◊

Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

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Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

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Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

◊ ◊ ◊

Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Radar Bros. kick off Echo residency on Monday

Radar Bros. play four Mondays this month at the Echo leading up to the Jan. 29 release of their new album, "Auditorium." My colleague August Brown's piece on the band from Thursday's edition of The Guide, is here; meanwhile, the band just released the video for the song "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep." Here it is:

◊ ◊ ◊

Because we're in such a giving mood (and, serendipitously, so are the bands), here are a couple nice downloads from two of the acts playing Saturday night at Spaceland, Amateurs and Frankel:

||| Download Amateurs' "Shadowbox."

||| Download Frankel's "X Marks the Spot."

◊ ◊ ◊.

Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder will do a guest turn with L.A. shoegazers Sky Parade tonight at the Club Underground at the Echo. Before hiring on with the Pumpkins, Schroeder was guitarist in the Lassie Foundation, whose drummer, Joel Patterson, mans the kit for Sky Parade.

◊ ◊ ◊.

Three sentences about Thursday night's show at Spaceland:

If brains were noise, they'd be the Henry Clay People.

The Airborne Toxic Event can play "Innocence" all night, as far as I'm concerned (newly posted on their MySpace page).

Henry Clay People drummer Eric Scott wore a Codpiece T-shirt, which might have stumped most people except ...

◊ ◊ ◊.

2007's top 3 entreaties from prospective Buzz Bands (reported in a manner that is in no way meant to be disparaging to the bands):

3. From Long Beach trio Codpiece: "Hi, Kevin, we're Codpiece. We have no discernible buzz but we just thought you might like to hear our music."

2. From David Kelley of 2 a.m. Orchestra: "Hope you enjoyed the music. If not, I hear CDs make good coasters."

1. And this headline from a press release for Sole & the Skyrider Band: "Sole depicts bleak future for the USA in new video, announces 2008 tour"

Other highlights this weekend, Jan 4-5-6

First Fridays resumes tonight at the Natural History Museum, with all kinds of fodder for the intellect and a couple delights for the ears -- Sea Wolf and Afternoons. ... A day late for the caucuses, You, Me & Iowa brings its jaunty pop to Spaceland tonight. ... And a nice one at the Scene in Glendale tonight: 22 Jacks (whose lineage includes the Breeders, the Adolescents, Royal Crown Revue and Wax), along with Jackson United (members of Foo Fighters, Face to Face and Mighty Mighty Bosstones). ... Pigeon John begins his series of DJ nights at El Cid -- there's live music too, details here. ... On Sunday, there's the estimable Mike Stinson at Safari Sam's, and No Age leading a great crew of bands at the Smell's 10-year anniversary show. But I'd be hard-pressed to think of a warmer way to end what shapes up to be a rainy weekend than seeing Eleni Mandell, Sunday night at Tangier.
 

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

◊ ◊ ◊

The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

◊ ◊ ◊

Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

◊ ◊ ◊

Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

◊ ◊ ◊

Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

◊ ◊ ◊

Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

◊ ◊ ◊

Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

◊ ◊ ◊

Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

◊ ◊ ◊

Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

End-of-the-week update: Send in the sweaters

This blog has been under the weather most of this week, and it had nothing to do with either of the sets I caught on Monday night -- the Mezzanine Owls playing LA Weekly's Click Hear show with a bunch of other good bands at the El Rey [better photos here], and then the Movies finishing up Radio Free Silver Lake's benefit for Huntington's Disease at Safari Sam's.

Both bands played a lot of new material, strong stuff at that, off EPs they plan to release in the new year. C'mon down, 2008.

The rest of the week was full of cold remedies and regret:

-- I did not get a chance to say a proper goodbye to Kiss or Kill, the weekly club night that ended Wednesday after five years. The night called many venues home, and the small and vibrant scene created by its promoters was as unpretentious as straight ahead rock 'n' roll could be. I will point out that one of the stalwart Kiss or Kill bands, Bang Sugar Bang, released a new album this fall that didn't find its way to me until recently. "Victory Gin" is a healthy dose of sharp boy-girl pop-punk, maybe a  bit more serious than their earlier efforts but still the kind of tunes than work its title beverage as a chaser.

-- I am trying to rally in time for Fold's Sweater Party tonight at the Crash Mansion. The Deadly Syndrome lead a parade of bands at the benefit (for Doctors Without Borders) that includes  Eskimohunter, the Happy Hollows, the Mae Shi and the Pity Party.

-- Somebody emailed to tell me I really missed the boat by missing these guys. But isn't glam just the new slapstick? The band has one more L.A. date, Tuesday at the Key Club.

-- Pitchfork has heaped some praise on local underground favorites Health, tabbing its video for "Heaven" as one of the site's top 50 of the year. The song ought to be bumper music for a sports TV show, sure, but a great video? Somebody please explain. Here it is:



-- Speaking of videos, Liz McGrath -- the visual artist-turned-Miss Derringer frontwoman -- will debut a 3D video for the band's song "Black Tears" on Saturday night when her new installation, "The Incurable Disorder," opens at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. The song is hauntingly good; here's a preview of the video (not in 3D -- has the Internet figured that out yet?).

Photo of Mezzanine Owls' Jack Burnside by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

More weekend music choices, and some fun end-of-the-year lists, here.

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

◊ ◊ ◊

The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

◊ ◊ ◊

Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

◊ ◊ ◊

Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

◊ ◊ ◊

Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

◊ ◊ ◊

Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

◊ ◊ ◊

Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

◊ ◊ ◊

Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

◊ ◊ ◊

Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

NYC loud, meet L.A. loud

[I don't think I can hold a thought for longer than one sentence today:]

-- As strong as New York trio A Place to Bury Strangers finished its set Monday night (and as cool as the band's hand-manipulated visuals were), I think local three-piece In Waves upstaged them in what amounted to a battle of the shoegazers at the Viper Room. (APTBS is at the Silverlake Lounge tonight with Xu Xu Fang and Mere Mortals.)

-- Not sure there are many local albums I'm looking forward to in 2008 more than the Little Ones' debut, and the quintet just put one track from the album up on its MySpace page.

-- More on these guys later, but local trio Jr. Juggernaut (pictured), who remind me of a few of the bands I loved during the 1990s, have signed to Suburban Home Records, and after a nice set Friday night at the Scene in Glendale spent Saturday recording more songs for their full-length debut.

||| Here's a taste from their self-released mini-album: Download "Coming in Backwards."

-- A press release tells me Citysearch has selected the Wiltern as the city's best live music venue, and while I can see plaudits based on the charm and the feel of the place, I wonder whether anybody besides me thinks the sound is often muddier than major-label economics there. (The Roxy won the readers' poll.)

-- This was inevitable at some point, but electro-guru Jimmy Tamborello has remixed his Silver Lake neighbors the Silversun Pickups -- the dreamy take on "Lazy Eye" will be released on iTunes on Tuesday as part of a six-song EP.

-- The heavenly voices of the Chapin Sisters have also found a label home -- the group's debut will be out in March on Plain Recordings.

-- During the been-there-done-that disco of Afrobots' set Sunday at the El Rey, you got the idea that frontman Rico Dolce Riot's microphone should hire a personal injury lawyer.

-- And this from Monday night's John C. Reilly-as-Dewey Cox gig at the Roxy: "The joke wore thin fast."

Highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 4

Sharon Jones' show at the El Rey is sold out, as it darn well ought to be. ... Wise guys-with-axes Oliver Future start a Tuesday night residency at the Viper Room. ... Speaking of wise guys, Glacier Hiking plays the Key Club. ... The Cave Singers and Port O'Brien play the Echo. ... Chris Stills plays the Hotel Cafe, and John Gold heads the bill at Bordello.

Photo of Jr. Juggernaut by Kevin Scanlon

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

◊ ◊ ◊

The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

◊ ◊ ◊

Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

◊ ◊ ◊

Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

◊ ◊ ◊

Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

◊ ◊ ◊

Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

◊ ◊ ◊

Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

◊ ◊ ◊

Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

◊ ◊ ◊

Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Interpol goes indie with EP release

[Late with a post today, sorry; here are some news bits:]

The band is no longer on an indie label, but Interpol today released a six-song live EP, "Interpol Live," that's available only at independent music stores. You mean there's some of those left? Yes, indeed. The retail outlets, listed at Think Indie, include North Hollywood's Miles of Music and Long Beach's Fingerprints, along with that cozy hole in the wall at Sunset and Ivar. The EP, by the way, is heavily weighted toward new material -- four songs off this year's "Our Love to Admire."

◊ ◊ ◊

The Plug Independent Music Awards nominees include a healthy number of major-label artists too, but who's counting? What's indie? I've watched this video five times and I'm still befuddled. The Plugs do appear to be an emo-free zone, however, even though there's a lot of indie emo. L.A.'s very own No Age and Sea Wolf (that's Alex Church at left) are among nominees for new artist of the year. Even if you don't vote, the Plug list offers the chance to test your cool quotient -- how many discs on the album-of-the-year list have you heard? Or how many do you own? And did you really make it all the way through the Beirut album? And why can't this Beirut get any love? So many questions.

◊ ◊ ◊

Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 27

If I were in the mood for some serious, thoughtful music tonight, I would see Johnette Napolitano at the Roxy. The ex-Concrete Blonde singer-bassist's solo album “Scarred” is powerful stuff -- plus she has a reputation for delivering the goods live. ... If I were in the mood to dance my legs off and hear the Cure recycled, I'd hit Cinespace for its Tuesday party -- War Tapes is playing, along with local rockers Policy. ... With only an EP on their resume, there's a buzz surrounding the indie pop of Los Campesinos!, who are from Wales but sound like they should be from Canada and are touring with another of our northern neighbor's government-supported indie outfits, the Most Serene Republic. That show is at the Echoplex. ... Maybe coolest of all, one of the Quannum Projects heroes, Honeycut, is down from San Francisco for a show at the Knitting Factory.

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

◊ ◊ ◊

Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

◊ ◊ ◊

Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

◊ ◊ ◊

Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

◊ ◊ ◊

Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

◊ ◊ ◊

Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

◊ ◊ ◊

Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Troubadour celebrates 50th with return of the pop icons

Tickets went on sale this morning (and as of this post, some remain) for the Troubadour's big 50th-anniversary shows Nov. 28, 29 and 30 featuring James Taylor, Carole King and original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar.

There are two shows per night, and, yes, it's pricey (VIP tickets are $1,000 each; general admission is $225). But why not? King and Taylor performed at the Troub in November 1969 in a show that marked her debut as a solo artist. Taylor's solo debut came at the venue four months earlier. For next week's performances, a hefty portion of the proceeds go to charity.

Details here.

◊ ◊ ◊

Highlights for Tuesday, Nov. 20

Not sure any of these shows will be of historic proportions, but there is some nice music to be heard tonight: Merrick, the seemingly long-ago project of Inara George (the Bird and the Bee) and Bryony Atkinson, reunites for the first of two nights at Bordello -- with John Gold among the openers. ... Locals Hearts of Palm UK, Letting Up Despite Great Faults and Marvelous Toy convene at Boardner's for a free show being mounted by the Radio Free Silver Lake blog. ... At the Silverlake Lounge, it's Tall Hands and the Soft Hands on the bill. Go figure. ... The Front and Tsk Tsk bring the rock at the Scene, and speaking of bringing the rock, Isis plays the Troubadour.

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

◊ ◊ ◊

Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

◊ ◊ ◊

Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

◊ ◊ ◊

Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

◊ ◊ ◊

Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

◊ ◊ ◊

Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Deadly Syndrome to open (and close) Sweater Festival

One of the most appealing holiday shows we've heard about so far is the Christmas Sweater Festival, a party being thrown by the Fold on Dec. 14 at the new downtown venue Crash Mansion.

Not only is it a sweater party, a minimum $10 donation (it's for charity) gets you music by five wildly entertaining local bands. And there is no headliner. In a strange quirk of scheduling, the show will unfold like a fantasy football draft -- with the bands performing sets in 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 order.

The Deadly Syndrome (drummer Jesse Hoy, above, among the ghosts at the Detour Festival) will open and close the night. The other slots feature the Mae-Shi, Happy Hollows, the Pity Party and Eskimohunter.

◊ ◊ ◊

Sam Sparro has canceled his set tonight at the Viper Room because of illness. Orange County up-and-comers Pop Noir remains on the bill, along with On Blast and Ari Shine.

◊ ◊ ◊

Mighty good fun, despite a modest turnout, at the Roxy last week for the Filter show featuring Oliver Future and Sara Lov. The latter artist, playing an acoustic guitar with a pianist and a cellist, was clearly annoyed that the yappy back-of-the-room folks wouldn't stop talking while she performed. "We have some chatty people here -- you wanna come up here and fight me? " she asked good-naturedly. "I'm sure there are plenty of bars on this block where they're not playing soft music."

Those who held their tongues for a half-hour were rewarded with a gorgeous set of folk-pop. Lov is working on an album that'll be out early next year.

◊ ◊ ◊

Speaking of albums, if we strain our ears really really hard right now, we might be able to hear the Little Ones debuting their new material. Well, not really. But the L.A. quintet is playing the Social in London today and doing songs off their long-awaited debut full-length, "Morning Tide." In the meantime, there's a great take on their single "Lovers Who Uncover" on their MySpace page -- it's called "Dubbers Who Uncover" and it's downloadable.

Elsewhere Monday, Nov. 19

The Softlightes (Spaceland), Casxio (Silverlake Lounge) and Restaurant (Echo) continue their residencies, and Castledoor joins the Airborne Toxic Event at its residency at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. ... Until June leads a bill of pop bands in a free show at the Troubadour.

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

◊ ◊ ◊

Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

◊ ◊ ◊

Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Bodies of Water signed to Secretly Canadian

Bodies of Water, who first caught my ear during their Echo residency back in May, have joined the roster of indie label Secretly Canadian, which will distribute the band's self-released album "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink" on Dec. 4. The band plans to have another album ready for release on the label by spring.

Secretly Canadian is home to the likes of Richard Swift, David Vandevelde, Antony & the Johnsons, Magnolia Electric Co. and Jens Lekman.

||| Download Bodies of Water's "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess."

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

◊ ◊ ◊

Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

◊ ◊ ◊

Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

KROQ gets into the local swing

Used to be you only heard local music on radio giant KROQ when a Los Angeles band broke big -- or on the occasional one-off "Catch of the Day" or in the wee hours when DJ Rodney Bingenheimer would spin one of his pop/Anglophile favorites.

But this decade's watershed of excellent local and indie music has gotten the station's notice, if the grassroots efforts of smaller upstart Indie 103.1 (KDLD-FM, which turns 4 years old on Christmas) haven't. DJ Kat Corbett has an hourlong slot from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays for her Locals Only show, and now the station has pressed Volume 1 of its Locals Only compilation.

The KROQ comp weighs in a bit heavier sonically than the three issued so far by Indie 103.1's Mark Sovel. But it's a great snapshot of the L.A. scene, from the muscular stylings of After Midnight Project, A.I. and Big Stone City to the pop-rock of Metro Station, New Year's Day and Heartstop. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour with the 20 tracks on this disc. [Can't find the track listing online anywhere except the Big Stone City page, so here you go.]

KROQ is mounting a Locals Only show at the Roxy on Saturday night, featuring Black Light Burns (fronted by ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland) and Cage9, among others.

Photo of After Midnight Project by Redd Room Studios

◊ ◊ ◊

Speaking of Indie 103, the station has scheduled its holiday show, Bands in Toyland, for Dec. 5 at the Avalon, with Spoon, Pinback, Datarock and Sea Wolf on board. It's a $30 ticket if you bring a non-wrapped toy ... And more on the holidays: The final "Gimme Shelter" benefit is Dec. 11 Dec. 12 at the Roxy, with Pete Yorn, Matthew Sweet & Suzana Hoffs, Phantom Planet, Peter Himmelman, Jesca Hoop and a bunch more.

Thanks to Olivia for pointing out my mistake.

◊ ◊ ◊

Fresno's Rademacher, who are playing a bazillion shows this month in preparation for the Dec. 4 release of their Aaron Espinoza-produced debut "Stunts," are doing something called a "blog residency," with four local blogs previewing the album two tracks at a time. Here's the Aquarium Drunkard's entry, and he has links to two others. The band brings its Pavement-influenced rock to Spaceland on Sunday night, with Espinoza's Earlimart (as a duo) and the Karabal Nightlife also performing.

Photo of Rademacher by Rachael Olmstead

Other club show highlights for Nov. 16-18

Amateurs and Nightfur play a great local show tonight at Spaceland [Duke has more options, as well as commentary on the economics of some of them]. ... On Saturday, it's the Warlocks and Darker My Love roaring at the Troubadour, Castaneda and Under the Influence of Giants rocking the Detroit Bar and the Parson Red Heads playing the Echo. ... And on Sunday, No Age returns to the Smell.

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Spoon, Silversun Pickups on KROQ bill

Rock radio giant KROQ-FM on Monday announced the roster for the first night (Dec. 8) of its Almost Acoustic Christmas, and the lineup contained a bunch of the usual suspects -- Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and Bad Religion, along with Paramore, Rise Against and System of a Down Serj Tankian.

This morning KROQ will announce a decidedly more indie lineup for the second night (Dec. 9), including four of the acts that played in 2004 -- Modest Mouse, the Shins, Muse and Jimmy Eat World. They will be joined by Spoon, local quartet Silversun Pickups and Canadian songstress Feist (guesting on the station's morning show today).

Bad Religion will be playing the event for the fourth time in 17 years (Beck has played five times, by the way). Do the Christmas show lineups tell you anything about the state of music? I don't know, but it sure is fun looking at the old KROQ lineups (thanks Wikipedia) and thinking how bummed I am that I missed the Trash Can Sinatras at that very first holiday show.

Both of this year's shows are at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

Photo of Britt Daniel of Spoon performing earlier this year at Internet outlet Little Radio's warehouse by Timothy Norris. Photo of Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups performing at Coachella by Kevin Bronson / LAT.

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

My Bloody Valentine gazes at plans for a new album

Monday morning news items:

-- Kevin Shields of shoegazer pioneers My Bloody Valentine confirms the band's reunion, not exactly a bulletin after months of rumors and reports to that effect. A new album is in the works and conjecture continues about a Coachella appearance, seemingly a foregone conclusion. (While the Goldenvoicers are at it, can they get these people too?) The video is taking forever to load, but Shields gives an interview here.

-- Ladytron has signed to Nettwerk, and the label will release the band's fourth album; it's being produced by Ed Banger Records dude Vicarious Bliss.

-- Local indie label Hopeless/Sub City lines up Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate for its seventh annual charitable combustion of hardcore and emo-ness, the Take Action Tour.

-- Bummer, Rocket.

 

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ

Dueling downtown events on New Year's Eve

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ