Cary Brothers: These are the breaks

It’s Tuesday, one of the biggest days in Cary Brothers’ life, the day his album “Who You

Are” is released, and the singer-songwriter is talking about good fortune. “I hope my

karma is saving itself for the record,” he jokes from his home in L.A., where he is laid

up. “I cracked my ankle doing the video shoot, then I lost the hard drive on the laptop

that does everything for me.”

By the time he hobbles into the Hotel Cafe tonight for his record-release show,

Brothers figures to have some stories to tell, beyond those on his lushly orchestrated

debut. There, amid ringing guitars, crashing cymbals and tinkling pianos, the Nashville

native with the Britpop sensibilities tells his L.A. tales, touching on “a lot of things

that have happened to me since I moved here, all the disastrous relationships,

everything I’ve learned ... like not to date actresses,” he says.

In

Brothers’ case, it’s been as much “where you are” as “Who You Are.”

Ears Wide Open: The Appearance

[Another in a series covering bands playing around L.A.:]


The Appearance aren't exactly

reinventing the wheel; in fact, they're kind of pushing one downhill, waving to the past

10 years of alt-rock bands as they pass. On the Orange County quartet's debut album,

"Lost in Aurora" (released last week by the Adrenaline Music Group),

singer-guitarist Alan Oakes marches bandmates Chad Kulengosky, Justin McCarthy and Jason

Nelson through early Jimmy Eat World and straight to the precipice of contemporary emo,

power chords at full throttle and lovelorn vocals alternately soaring and intertwined.

If you like what you hear on commercial radio, the Appearance may be for you -- producer

Chris Fudurich keeps things nice and crisp, guitarist Kulengosky has the chops, and

Oakes displays a deft enough touch with his wordplay. The Appearance have racked up

impressive MySpace numbers, and it'd be no surprise if those virtual "friends"

turned into real fans.

||| See the Appearance perform

tonight at Red Dragon Studios, 1444 N. Highland (at Sunset). Details on the band's

MySpace page, of course. And Rocket is also

playing.

Here's the video for "Not a Soul":

No need to put the BrakesBrakesBrakes on

It might have been the most productive 10 minutes Eamon Hamilton ever played. The

keyboardist of British Sea Power was

doing an acoustic guitar set in a Brighton, England, pub when two tipsy patrons

approached and offered to play on the songs.

They

were Tom and Alex White, the duo behind Brighton luminaries and onetime Mercury Music

Prize nominees the Electric Soft

Parade. Hamilton was game. "From the first chords, we knew we had something

special. They are just sickeningly talented, those two," Hamilton says.

Now they are doing double duty in BrakesBrakesBrakes, the

Hamilton project that last week released its second album, "The Beatific

Visions." It's a collection of occasionally twangy pop-punk, quick-moving and

catchy and built on Hamilton's agitated yelp. (The first album was released as Brakes,

before Hamilton renamed the quartet to avoid a conflict with a U.S. band called the

Brakes. "We're so good we named ourselves three times," he jokes.)

Like the album, which mixes what Hamilton calls "the great stories and the

heartbroken quality" of country music with fun sendups such as the dance number

"Spring Chicken," the tour that brings the band to L.A. is all in good fun.

Electric Soft Parade is also on the bill, supporting its own new album, "No Need to

Be Downhearted."

Says Hamilton: "Tom and Alex will be drinking a lot of coffee."

||| See BrakesBrakesBrakes, the Electric Soft Parade and Pela

tonight at Club NME at Spaceland.

||| Download the Electric

Soft Parade's "If That's the Case."

||| Download BrakesBrakesBrakes' "Hold Me

in the River."

Here's the video for that song:

Amateurs sound anything but

[We'll play catch-up this week on album releases and reviews. We think ...]

 

Amateurs, "Speak

Easy" (self-released): L.A. quartet Amateurs can't quite decide what they want to

be, except good. Their first album nods to classic rock, folky '70s radio fare, modern

indie titans and maybe even prog rock band or two, if they used strings. Whether you

hear a lot of Wilco or a little Fleetwood Mac, Fairport Convention or the Band, it's the

emotional range that makes Amateurs' an impressive debut. Its melodic bounce, gorgeous

wedding of harmonies with Shannon De Jong's strings and smartly spun vignettes by

singer-guitarist Keith Waggoner give "Speak Easy" a warm, organic sheen. It's

folk-rock that doesn't need to resort to gimmickry or conscious deconstruction.

||| See Amateurs tonight at their album release show at the Scene in Glendale.

Touts

for Tuesday, May 29

It's an album release party for ex-Fur

singer Holly Ramos tonight too -- an early show

at the Hotel Cafe ... Toca celebrates its album

release with a show at the Knitting Factory. ... Icelandic blues-country songstress Lay

Low performs at the Silverlake Lounge. ... And that's in case you're missing the bigger

shows, the Arcade Fire at the Greek and Voxtrot at the El Rey Theatre.

Voxtrot rides out the bumps in the buzz

Voxtrot's Ramesh Srivastava won't even

read this, if he's true to his word. "I'm sick of reading about it on the Internet

already," the singer-songwriter says of his quintet's debut album, released last

week. "People blog and things like that, but ..."

But it's a double-edged sword. Those same writers who heaped praise on Voxtrot's

three EPs and its merry Anglophilic sensibilities — accelerating the buzz that made the

Austin, Texas, group a national phenomenon — have reacted quizzically, or

critically, to the more thoughtful and textured "Voxtrot." Yes, the nods

to Britpop and the likes of the Smiths, and Belle and Sebastian are still there, but

what happened to the party?

"I don't know what the album would have had to sound like to live up to the

buzz," Srivastava says. "I do feel like there's too much emphasis on the

concept that a band is not a band until they put out an album."

Voxtrot has been a band since 2002, when the frontman got together with boyhood

friends Mitch Calvert (guitar), Jason Chronis (bass), Jared Van Fleet (keyboards) and

Matt Simon (drums). The band's infancy was interrupted by Srivastava's studies, first in

Boston, then in Glasgow, Scotland. The three EPs were recorded when he was home on

holiday — that's where the party was.

"I finally came back to do the band full force ... and I kind of went insane for

a while," Srivastava says of that period, during which he dealt with the death of a

grandmother. In the end, though, he is proud of the range displayed on the final

product. "Nothing really encapsulated us up until now."

And what's

in the capsule? "Voxtrot" roots itself in the heart-on-sleeve territory of

Britpop bands big and small; the album's swoon-worthiness will depend entirely on your

threshold for sincerity. Voxtrot's fans, rest assured, have already checked their

cynicism at the door.

||| See Voxtrot perform tonight (with

Sound Team and Au Revoir Simone) at the El Rey Theatre.

||| Download Voxtrot's "Kid

Gloves."

||| Download a spacey Sound Team remix: "Born to

Please" (Bill Mix).

||| Download Au Revoir Simone's

"Through the

Backyards."

||| Aw, heck, for old time's sake, download

the Field Mice's &quot

;Five Moments."

Photo of Voxtrot, from left, Jared Van Fleet, Jason Chronis, Matt Simon, Ramesh

Srivastava and Mitch Calvert, by Rebecca Miller.

Plans this weekend? I bet

The posters say "The Autumns vs. The Sugarplastic" -- and as those L.A.

bands' co-residency ends tonight at the Spaceland, I'd have to say it's a tie. The

Autumns' dense guitars have taken on almost a post-rock feel in their new material; the

Sugarplastic's tightly wound, eclectic pop still wields plenty of bite. It was an odd

pairing for a co-residency, but thte night I attended the crowd did not turn over too

much.

LoveLikeFire ends its residency

tonight too, at El Cid. The San Francisco quartet has a stage presence that might exceed

its interest musically right now, but a hook or two could change that, and the band

certainly has attracted devotees to its dark, urgent churn. Certainly, the downloadable

"A Million Pieces" is worth a buck, if you visit their MySpace page.

Elsewhere Friday, May 25

Uncle Monk, the bluegrass band

featuring Tommy Ramone on

vocals, plays the Knitting Factory. ... Mike

Stinson and I See Hawks in L.A. bring their

signature twang to the Scene Bar in Glendale. ... Soul singer Chrisopher Blue brings his acoustic

stylings to Tangier. ... Hello

Stranger, Nous Non Plus and the Pity Party bring the party to Safari

Sam's. ... And Santa Cruz punks Good

Riddance play their final show at the El Rey Theatre.

Touts

for Saturday, May 26

The Topanga Days festival starts a

three-day run -- plenty of talent on it diverse lineup, from Veruca Salt
and Minibar on Saturday to to John Doe (with special gust Pamela Des Barres) and the Sin

City All Stars on Sunday to the Young Dubliners on Sunday. Lineup here. ...

Meanwhile, Saturday, Something for

Rockets, Bedtime for Toys and Glacier Hiking make for a strong night

at the Scene.

Touts for Sunday, May 27

Tussle headlines the Echo in what promises to promises

to be a dancy night. Or you could stay in, pour yourself a drink and watch their video

for "Second

Guessing."

Touts for Monday, May 28

Phantom Planet, supported by Emma Burgess, plays the Roxy. (Phantom

Planet returns for a June 4 engagement there too.) ... At Indie 103.1's night at the

Viper Room, Nico Vega, the Gray Kid and the Ringers perform. And the eastside May

residencies end on this holiday night -- Gliss

at Spaceland, Bodies of Water at

the Echo and the all-star lineup doing business as the High Society at the Silverlake

Lounge. ... Have a lovely weekend.

Photo of Gliss's Marty Klingman

performing at Spaceland.

Blonde Redhead, Ben Harper among the talent at Sunset Junction

A deep lineup of music is shaping up for the annual Sunset Junction Street Fair, the carnival/food

fair/rock festival that takes over Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake on Aug. 18 and

19.

Some major headliners for Sunday are still to be announced -- watch for a big name to be

dropped July 16 -- but the Saturday roster for the rock-oriented Bates Stage is

formidable, with the night ending with sets by New York shoegazers Blonde Redhead and the pride of Claremont, Ben Harper.

Blonde Redhead, fresh off an

appearance at Coachella and the release of their

seventh (and I'll join those who are saying, best) album, "23," has always had

a stong L.A. following, owing to the strong presence of bands with similar

sensibilities. One of those, Autolux, will precede the

New Yorkers on the Bates Stages on Friday night. Is that enough wall-of-sound for you,

kids?

By the way, Blonde Redhead is inviting fans to remix "Signs Along

the Path" -- you can download the parts here.

|||

Download the title track from Blonde Redhead's album, "23."

As always, local talent abounds on the Sunset Junction stages. Leading up to Autolux

on Saturday are Division Day, the Pity Party, the Parson Red Heads, the Culver City Dub Collective, the Broken West and Sea Wolf. The Sunday afternoon lineup includes

Eskimohunter (Spaceland's July

residents), the Movies, the Airborne Toxic Event and the Aggrolites.

On Saturday, Morris Day & the Time and Deniece Williams anchor the bill on

the Edgecliffe Stage, where Millie Jackson

and a major act TBA close out the festivities on Sunday. And on the Sanborn Stage, the

Breakestra and Jesse de la Pena are among the highlights on

Saturday; Rocky Dawuni and Chebi Sabbah perform there on Sunday.

Photo of Blonde Redhead by Sebastian Mlynarski. Photo of Ben Harper from

www.benharper.net.

Ears Wide Open: Kissing Cousins

[One in a series tipping you to bands playing around town:]

Over three EPs for Orange County-based Velvet Blue Music, Kissing Cousins are happily all over the map -- dispensing infectious girl-pop, slightly bent balladry and spiky anthems with schoolgirl enthusiam and postgradute aplomb. It's never too serious, though -- at a recent show at the Echo, they also dispensed cotton candy. Drummer Beth, singer-guitarist Heather, bassist Rhea and keyboardist-flutist Kara all go by their first names only; maybe by the time they make a full-length, we'll get the whole story.

||| See: Kissing Cousins perform tonight (as part of a Tribute to the Doors) at Safari Sam's, Monday at the Detroit Bar and June 1 at Mr. T's Bowl.

||| Download:

"One Eyed Woman"

◊ ◊ ◊

Touts for

Thursday, May 24

The Clientele perform at the Knitting Factory. ... Division Day, the Western States Motel and the Mae Shi play Spaceland. ... The Shys and Lemon Sun play the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa.... Bloodcat Love and Children Collide are on the bill at the Echo. ... The Valley Arena rock the Silverlake Lounge. ... Clutch and Year Long Disaster start a two-night run at the Roxy.

Brother Ali’s different experience

Brother Ali doesn't believe his rising

prominence in the hip-hop world represents a victory for the underground over the

mainstream. "A lot of people don't feel represented by what's in the mainstream

because they feel the mainstream is terrible and it's holding them back," the

Minneapolis rapper says. "I don't necessarily feel that way. But maybe people do

want voices that are a little closer to where they're coming from."

It's called Everyman appeal, and Brother Ali exudes plenty of it. An albino Muslim

who overcame a hardscrabble upbringing, Ali mines his personal experiences on "The

Undisputed Truth," his second album for Rhymesayers Entertainment. The breakup of

his marriage, being homeless, life as a single dad, his working-class frustration with

the government -- all are fodder for his deft flow and wordplay, which got a warm

reception during an

afternoon set last month at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.

It's a deeper -- and, thanks to the soulful backdrop by producer Ant (Atmosphere),

more tuneful -- excursion into a world Ali first shared with listeners in the song

"Forest Whitiker," off 2003's "Shadows on the Sun." "I listed a

lot of personal stuff, a lot of details, but that's the song people respect," Ali

says. "It shows you don't have to have the exact same experience as somebody to

relate to what they're doing."

||| See Brother Ali, with DJ BK One, host Toki Wright and Chicago

rapper Psalm One, tonight at the Troubadour.

||| Download "Truth

Is" and "Original

King."

Photo of Brother Ali at Coachella (Kevin Bronson/LAT)

Touts for Wednesday, May 23

The Monolators and Castledoor play the Echo. ... Great Northern and Sara Lov hold forth downtown at Bordello. ...

And Amy Raasch and Anya Marina are on the bill at the Hotel

Cafe. ... And the Electric Soft

Parade (who will also be at Spaceland next Wednesday) are at Boardner's tonight for

Club Moscow.

Smashing Pumpkins open with a bang in Paris

Videos from the Smashing

Pumpkins show tonight at the Grand Rex in Paris -- the band's first show since 2000

-- are already all over YouTube. And even if none is of particularly good quality, it's

amusing to hear people sing along

to "Today" with a French accent.

The show, in front of 2,200,

is already the subject of some spirited debate all over the Internet -- and that figures

to escalate throughout their European dates -- but most of it boils down to one issue:

Do fans accept that Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin and their hired musicians are

calling themselves the Pumpkins? Or are the Pumpkins without James and D'Arcy not the

Pumpkins at all?

Please discuss. I continue to spend time with

"Zeitgeist" and try to decide for myself.

One thing for sure: The

Grand Rex crowd got its money's worth. Corgan, Chamberlin, bassist Ginger Reyes,

guitarist Jeff Schroeder and keyboardist Lisa Harriton played for three hours.

The setlist, forgoing the quotation marks around song names: United States, Today,

Stand Inside Your Love, Orchid, Doomsday Clock, Home, Hummer, Starz, Tarantula, Bullet,

Gossamer, God and Country, 33, Rocket, Winterlong, To Sheila, Glass and the Ghost

Children, Cherub Rock, 1979, Tonight, Neverlost, That's the Way, Disarm, Zero, Untitled,

Shame, Silverf---, Annie Dog, Muzzle.