Detour and F Yeah Fest lineups announced

Ready, set, go!

LA Weekly Detour Music Festival:
Oct. 4
Tickets on sale Friday at noon, $40.50

Lineup:
The Mars Volta
Gogol Bordello
Shiny Toy Guns
The Presets
Cut Copy
Matt Costa
Black Lips
Hercules and Love Affair

If you're a fan of the oft-referenced golden era of rap or you just want to see what's up with L.A.'s fertile rap scene, check out Inglewood's U-N-I tonight and Saturday. The young duo, above, is part of a buzz-gathering collective of West Coast emcees, with music less reminiscent of the Game or Ice Cube and more like Dilated Peoples and the Pharcyde in their casual subject matter and jazz-infused style. They were set to open for EPMD tonight at Crash Mansion but some last-minute legal snafus, according to one insider, led to the cancellation of tonight's entire show (for the second time).

A little bird told us that Long Beach's favorite juke-joint indie rockers Cold War Kids, above, are playing a secret show Friday night (we haven't confirmed the time yet UPDATE! It's at 10 p.m.) at the R Bar in L.A.'s Koreatown. They'll likely be previewing new songs from their forthcoming album "Loyalty to Loyalty" that's out Sept. 23, so if you figure out what pirate-related password they're using at the door this week, it's worth showing up early, as the place only holds 80 people.

-- August Brown

[Photo: Stefano Paltera / For the Los Angeles Times]

When the book is written on England's top soul singers of all time, Alison Moyet's throaty growl will surely be in the proverbial mix. The voice of Yaz, who just dropped her seventh solo record Tuesday and performs tonight (the last of three shows at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown L.A.) with Vince Clarke as one half of the acclaimed electropop duo Yazoo, as they are known in the U.K., hasn't lost a step when it comes to hitting all the right notes with her primal-yet-sensual vocalization.

And while Moyet was the chanson-influenced R&B voice of the 1980s, we were curious what the "Situation" singer thought of England's current voice-of-the-moment: Amy Winehouse.

As anyone who attended last year's American Apparel sample-sale blowout at their downtown factory (guilty!) knows, few things will pry pan-ethnic art school dropouts from their weekend hangovers like the promise of $1 terrycloth headbands. This year's installment on July 27 is upping the ante with the promise of a "Secret French musical guest," and the obvious list of suspects -- Justice, Yelle, the Ed Banger crew, heck, maybe Daft Punk -- is making the feverish speculative rounds.

Silly hipsters. Of course the correct answer is Sebastien Tellier, who not only has the sample sale date blocked off on his tour schedule as "AA Show" in Los Angeles, but Tellier debuted his new album "Sexuality" on American Apparel shelves before it ever hit music stores. Expect deep, deep discounts on Sexual Sportswear of all stripes at the sale, that is, if any of you kids even wear clothes these days.

--August Brown

Dov Charney photo by Jennifer S. Altman/For The Times

Shawties, don't go to the club tonight. According to a press release from Live Nation, tonight's T.I. show is cancelled.

On Saturday, "La Plazita Olvera" (read: Olvera Street) won't be the usual quiet stop for tourists seeking to nosh and stroll the cobblestone paths looking for souvenirs. It will be home to a deluge of sounds coming from the ska, reggae and punk festival LA Sound System. The festival will offer a sonic cultural exchange with nearly 30 bands on three stages from all over Latin America and Europe.

I don't know what makes me more squeamish -- typing that title or looking at the increasingly cutesy candids of lovebirds Devendra Banhart and Moby's old flame, Natalie Portman. From bald to beard, huh? But more importantly, the hairy freak-folk favorite has a new band, Megapuss, which will reveal itself to the world at a free Hammer Museum concert at 8 p.m. Wednesday. According to Naturalismo, the band is Banhart and Priestbird drummer Greg Rogove, who started the duo as a joke and ended up writing eight songs. One of them is the surreal-as-it-sounds "Duck People Duck Man," which they'll undoubtedly perform. Aziz Ansari, the "Human Giant" comedian and recent addition to the upcoming spinoff of "The Office," promises to be on hand to contribute his vocal part.

--David Greenwald

Photo of Devendra Banhart by Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times

Nearly everything in Irvine closes at 10 p.m. Basically, if you're a student or enjoy some sort of nightlife, you're pretty much out of luck. Irvine is like a frozen tundra when it comes to some sort of music scene: Epic jam sessions cannot survive. Dance parties wither and die. Everyone listens to Jack Johnson.

But there's now a ray of light in our fair corporate metropolis. Since late January, the student-run DIY group Acrobatics Everyday has been bringing local and touring indie bands to the UC Irvine campus. But wait, doesn’t Chain Reaction in Anaheim already provide this? That’s somewhat true, except the bands that play there are all emo-pop outfits from your little sister's iPod.

AE founder Sam Farzin, a UC Irvine student and music director of KUCI-FM (88.9), felt the city needed more variety and, let’s face it, better bands: “Why not start by attempting to introduce wonderful, palatable sounds to a whole new audience that would never otherwise know they existed? My main goal is to get people in the area excited about music. Off of their computers and into classrooms, restaurants, lecture halls, conference rooms — watching music … wherever we can fit a PA.”

Also, because all the money that Acrobatics Everyday generates goes directly to the bands, there is no commercial agenda.

The ever-expanding list of bands that have played at Acrobatics Everyday include spazz-tastic Dan Deacon, heartfelt indie pop band Mount Eerie (formerly the Microphones), the stream-of-consciousness stylings of BARR and Mount Righteous, pictured above.

This Saturday, Acrobatics Everyday celebrates the beginning of summer and its six-month anniversary with the Bright Tomorrow Festival. The lineup include Devon Williams (formerly of Osker), Infinite Body, Glasser (with the BodyCity dance troupe), Rafter, Red Pony Clock, Talkdemonic, and Lloyd & Michael (formerly of Dear Nora). The fest starts at 3 p.m., costs $8 and, like every AE show, is all-ages.

“I hope people will come to an Acrobatics Everyday show," Farzin says, "and leave happy, excited about life, and looking forward to the next show.”

Perhaps Irvine doesn’t suck anymore.

-- post and photo by Vivian Lee

Future events include Bird Names and Wummin (June 25) and Thao with the Get Down Stay Down and Da Bears (Aug. 1).

For more information and the full calendar, click here.

Tomorrow at 7 p.m., Arthur Magazine and Redoubt Press present Joe Carducci reading from selected works, including his new book, "Enter Naomi," at Book Soup in West Hollywood. Carducci (pictured at left) also guests on KXLU radio's "Stray Pop" program tonight at 11; stream it here.

Why should you care? Here's why:

In 1991, Joe Carducci published a massive, brilliant, stupid, exhaustive, exhausting book called "Rock and the Pop Narcotic," which set out a theory of what mattered in rock music that inspired many and infuriated more. Since he was office manager/utility infielder at SST, one of the key labels defining American punk, Carducci had more right than most to spout on about the importance of bands like Husker Du and Black Flag.

I hated that book: Carducci came off as a macho libertarian in love with some romantic idea of the working class, who thought male bonding was the key ingredient in music-making, that establishment rock critics were namby-pamby liberals and that anything aimed at the marketplace (i.e., at girls) was hopelessly corrupt. Worst of all were rock bands with pop pretensions. I was a girl who liked U2 and loved reading rock criticism. Carducci and I were not bound to get along.

Now that I'm less defensive about strong thinkers whose viewpoints contradict my own, I can see the value in Carducci's impassioned embrace of the miraculous transformations that happen when a few sweaty dudes -- and, Carducci acknowledges, possibly a woman or two -- make loud music together. I dip into "Rock and the Pop Narcotic" (which he revised in 1995, and published in a third edition on Redoubt Press in 2005) when I need a shot of provocative thinking or a great description of garage rock.

What brought me back to Carducci, though, was an online tribute he wrote in 2005 (still accessible here) about a woman who never made music, though she loved punk and played a role in its glory days.

U-N-I will host party at Holy Grail sneaker shop tonight; performance Saturday at the Roxy

If you're a fan of the oft-referenced golden era of rap or you just want to see what's up with L.A.'s fertile rap scene, check out Inglewood's U-N-I tonight and Saturday. The young duo, above, is part of a buzz-gathering collective of West Coast emcees, with music less reminiscent of the Game or Ice Cube and more like Dilated Peoples and the Pharcyde in their casual subject matter and jazz-infused style. They were set to open for EPMD tonight at Crash Mansion but some last-minute legal snafus, according to one insider, led to the cancellation of tonight's entire show (for the second time).

A little bird told us that Long Beach's favorite juke-joint indie rockers Cold War Kids, above, are playing a secret show Friday night (we haven't confirmed the time yet UPDATE! It's at 10 p.m.) at the R Bar in L.A.'s Koreatown. They'll likely be previewing new songs from their forthcoming album "Loyalty to Loyalty" that's out Sept. 23, so if you figure out what pirate-related password they're using at the door this week, it's worth showing up early, as the place only holds 80 people.

-- August Brown

[Photo: Stefano Paltera / For the Los Angeles Times]

When the book is written on England's top soul singers of all time, Alison Moyet's throaty growl will surely be in the proverbial mix. The voice of Yaz, who just dropped her seventh solo record Tuesday and performs tonight (the last of three shows at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown L.A.) with Vince Clarke as one half of the acclaimed electropop duo Yazoo, as they are known in the U.K., hasn't lost a step when it comes to hitting all the right notes with her primal-yet-sensual vocalization.

And while Moyet was the chanson-influenced R&B voice of the 1980s, we were curious what the "Situation" singer thought of England's current voice-of-the-moment: Amy Winehouse.

As anyone who attended last year's American Apparel sample-sale blowout at their downtown factory (guilty!) knows, few things will pry pan-ethnic art school dropouts from their weekend hangovers like the promise of $1 terrycloth headbands. This year's installment on July 27 is upping the ante with the promise of a "Secret French musical guest," and the obvious list of suspects -- Justice, Yelle, the Ed Banger crew, heck, maybe Daft Punk -- is making the feverish speculative rounds.

Silly hipsters. Of course the correct answer is Sebastien Tellier, who not only has the sample sale date blocked off on his tour schedule as "AA Show" in Los Angeles, but Tellier debuted his new album "Sexuality" on American Apparel shelves before it ever hit music stores. Expect deep, deep discounts on Sexual Sportswear of all stripes at the sale, that is, if any of you kids even wear clothes these days.

--August Brown

Dov Charney photo by Jennifer S. Altman/For The Times

Shawties, don't go to the club tonight. According to a press release from Live Nation, tonight's T.I. show is cancelled.

On Saturday, "La Plazita Olvera" (read: Olvera Street) won't be the usual quiet stop for tourists seeking to nosh and stroll the cobblestone paths looking for souvenirs. It will be home to a deluge of sounds coming from the ska, reggae and punk festival LA Sound System. The festival will offer a sonic cultural exchange with nearly 30 bands on three stages from all over Latin America and Europe.

I don't know what makes me more squeamish -- typing that title or looking at the increasingly cutesy candids of lovebirds Devendra Banhart and Moby's old flame, Natalie Portman. From bald to beard, huh? But more importantly, the hairy freak-folk favorite has a new band, Megapuss, which will reveal itself to the world at a free Hammer Museum concert at 8 p.m. Wednesday. According to Naturalismo, the band is Banhart and Priestbird drummer Greg Rogove, who started the duo as a joke and ended up writing eight songs. One of them is the surreal-as-it-sounds "Duck People Duck Man," which they'll undoubtedly perform. Aziz Ansari, the "Human Giant" comedian and recent addition to the upcoming spinoff of "The Office," promises to be on hand to contribute his vocal part.

--David Greenwald

Photo of Devendra Banhart by Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times

Nearly everything in Irvine closes at 10 p.m. Basically, if you're a student or enjoy some sort of nightlife, you're pretty much out of luck. Irvine is like a frozen tundra when it comes to some sort of music scene: Epic jam sessions cannot survive. Dance parties wither and die. Everyone listens to Jack Johnson.

But there's now a ray of light in our fair corporate metropolis. Since late January, the student-run DIY group Acrobatics Everyday has been bringing local and touring indie bands to the UC Irvine campus. But wait, doesn’t Chain Reaction in Anaheim already provide this? That’s somewhat true, except the bands that play there are all emo-pop outfits from your little sister's iPod.

AE founder Sam Farzin, a UC Irvine student and music director of KUCI-FM (88.9), felt the city needed more variety and, let’s face it, better bands: “Why not start by attempting to introduce wonderful, palatable sounds to a whole new audience that would never otherwise know they existed? My main goal is to get people in the area excited about music. Off of their computers and into classrooms, restaurants, lecture halls, conference rooms — watching music … wherever we can fit a PA.”

Also, because all the money that Acrobatics Everyday generates goes directly to the bands, there is no commercial agenda.

The ever-expanding list of bands that have played at Acrobatics Everyday include spazz-tastic Dan Deacon, heartfelt indie pop band Mount Eerie (formerly the Microphones), the stream-of-consciousness stylings of BARR and Mount Righteous, pictured above.

This Saturday, Acrobatics Everyday celebrates the beginning of summer and its six-month anniversary with the Bright Tomorrow Festival. The lineup include Devon Williams (formerly of Osker), Infinite Body, Glasser (with the BodyCity dance troupe), Rafter, Red Pony Clock, Talkdemonic, and Lloyd & Michael (formerly of Dear Nora). The fest starts at 3 p.m., costs $8 and, like every AE show, is all-ages.

“I hope people will come to an Acrobatics Everyday show," Farzin says, "and leave happy, excited about life, and looking forward to the next show.”

Perhaps Irvine doesn’t suck anymore.

-- post and photo by Vivian Lee

Future events include Bird Names and Wummin (June 25) and Thao with the Get Down Stay Down and Da Bears (Aug. 1).

For more information and the full calendar, click here.

Tomorrow at 7 p.m., Arthur Magazine and Redoubt Press present Joe Carducci reading from selected works, including his new book, "Enter Naomi," at Book Soup in West Hollywood. Carducci (pictured at left) also guests on KXLU radio's "Stray Pop" program tonight at 11; stream it here.

Why should you care? Here's why:

In 1991, Joe Carducci published a massive, brilliant, stupid, exhaustive, exhausting book called "Rock and the Pop Narcotic," which set out a theory of what mattered in rock music that inspired many and infuriated more. Since he was office manager/utility infielder at SST, one of the key labels defining American punk, Carducci had more right than most to spout on about the importance of bands like Husker Du and Black Flag.

I hated that book: Carducci came off as a macho libertarian in love with some romantic idea of the working class, who thought male bonding was the key ingredient in music-making, that establishment rock critics were namby-pamby liberals and that anything aimed at the marketplace (i.e., at girls) was hopelessly corrupt. Worst of all were rock bands with pop pretensions. I was a girl who liked U2 and loved reading rock criticism. Carducci and I were not bound to get along.

Now that I'm less defensive about strong thinkers whose viewpoints contradict my own, I can see the value in Carducci's impassioned embrace of the miraculous transformations that happen when a few sweaty dudes -- and, Carducci acknowledges, possibly a woman or two -- make loud music together. I dip into "Rock and the Pop Narcotic" (which he revised in 1995, and published in a third edition on Redoubt Press in 2005) when I need a shot of provocative thinking or a great description of garage rock.

What brought me back to Carducci, though, was an online tribute he wrote in 2005 (still accessible here) about a woman who never made music, though she loved punk and played a role in its glory days.

Cold War Kids’ secret show at R Bar Friday night

A little bird told us that Long Beach's favorite juke-joint indie rockers Cold War Kids, above, are playing a secret show Friday night (we haven't confirmed the time yet UPDATE! It's at 10 p.m.) at the R Bar in L.A.'s Koreatown. They'll likely be previewing new songs from their forthcoming album "Loyalty to Loyalty" that's out Sept. 23, so if you figure out what pirate-related password they're using at the door this week, it's worth showing up early, as the place only holds 80 people.

-- August Brown

[Photo: Stefano Paltera / For the Los Angeles Times]

When the book is written on England's top soul singers of all time, Alison Moyet's throaty growl will surely be in the proverbial mix. The voice of Yaz, who just dropped her seventh solo record Tuesday and performs tonight (the last of three shows at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown L.A.) with Vince Clarke as one half of the acclaimed electropop duo Yazoo, as they are known in the U.K., hasn't lost a step when it comes to hitting all the right notes with her primal-yet-sensual vocalization.

And while Moyet was the chanson-influenced R&B voice of the 1980s, we were curious what the "Situation" singer thought of England's current voice-of-the-moment: Amy Winehouse.

As anyone who attended last year's American Apparel sample-sale blowout at their downtown factory (guilty!) knows, few things will pry pan-ethnic art school dropouts from their weekend hangovers like the promise of $1 terrycloth headbands. This year's installment on July 27 is upping the ante with the promise of a "Secret French musical guest," and the obvious list of suspects -- Justice, Yelle, the Ed Banger crew, heck, maybe Daft Punk -- is making the feverish speculative rounds.

Silly hipsters. Of course the correct answer is Sebastien Tellier, who not only has the sample sale date blocked off on his tour schedule as "AA Show" in Los Angeles, but Tellier debuted his new album "Sexuality" on American Apparel shelves before it ever hit music stores. Expect deep, deep discounts on Sexual Sportswear of all stripes at the sale, that is, if any of you kids even wear clothes these days.

--August Brown

Dov Charney photo by Jennifer S. Altman/For The Times

Shawties, don't go to the club tonight. According to a press release from Live Nation, tonight's T.I. show is cancelled.

On Saturday, "La Plazita Olvera" (read: Olvera Street) won't be the usual quiet stop for tourists seeking to nosh and stroll the cobblestone paths looking for souvenirs. It will be home to a deluge of sounds coming from the ska, reggae and punk festival LA Sound System. The festival will offer a sonic cultural exchange with nearly 30 bands on three stages from all over Latin America and Europe.

I don't know what makes me more squeamish -- typing that title or looking at the increasingly cutesy candids of lovebirds Devendra Banhart and Moby's old flame, Natalie Portman. From bald to beard, huh? But more importantly, the hairy freak-folk favorite has a new band, Megapuss, which will reveal itself to the world at a free Hammer Museum concert at 8 p.m. Wednesday. According to Naturalismo, the band is Banhart and Priestbird drummer Greg Rogove, who started the duo as a joke and ended up writing eight songs. One of them is the surreal-as-it-sounds "Duck People Duck Man," which they'll undoubtedly perform. Aziz Ansari, the "Human Giant" comedian and recent addition to the upcoming spinoff of "The Office," promises to be on hand to contribute his vocal part.

--David Greenwald

Photo of Devendra Banhart by Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times

Nearly everything in Irvine closes at 10 p.m. Basically, if you're a student or enjoy some sort of nightlife, you're pretty much out of luck. Irvine is like a frozen tundra when it comes to some sort of music scene: Epic jam sessions cannot survive. Dance parties wither and die. Everyone listens to Jack Johnson.

But there's now a ray of light in our fair corporate metropolis. Since late January, the student-run DIY group Acrobatics Everyday has been bringing local and touring indie bands to the UC Irvine campus. But wait, doesn’t Chain Reaction in Anaheim already provide this? That’s somewhat true, except the bands that play there are all emo-pop outfits from your little sister's iPod.

AE founder Sam Farzin, a UC Irvine student and music director of KUCI-FM (88.9), felt the city needed more variety and, let’s face it, better bands: “Why not start by attempting to introduce wonderful, palatable sounds to a whole new audience that would never otherwise know they existed? My main goal is to get people in the area excited about music. Off of their computers and into classrooms, restaurants, lecture halls, conference rooms — watching music … wherever we can fit a PA.”

Also, because all the money that Acrobatics Everyday generates goes directly to the bands, there is no commercial agenda.

The ever-expanding list of bands that have played at Acrobatics Everyday include spazz-tastic Dan Deacon, heartfelt indie pop band Mount Eerie (formerly the Microphones), the stream-of-consciousness stylings of BARR and Mount Righteous, pictured above.

This Saturday, Acrobatics Everyday celebrates the beginning of summer and its six-month anniversary with the Bright Tomorrow Festival. The lineup include Devon Williams (formerly of Osker), Infinite Body, Glasser (with the BodyCity dance troupe), Rafter, Red Pony Clock, Talkdemonic, and Lloyd & Michael (formerly of Dear Nora). The fest starts at 3 p.m., costs $8 and, like every AE show, is all-ages.

“I hope people will come to an Acrobatics Everyday show," Farzin says, "and leave happy, excited about life, and looking forward to the next show.”

Perhaps Irvine doesn’t suck anymore.

-- post and photo by Vivian Lee

Future events include Bird Names and Wummin (June 25) and Thao with the Get Down Stay Down and Da Bears (Aug. 1).

For more information and the full calendar, click here.

Tomorrow at 7 p.m., Arthur Magazine and Redoubt Press present Joe Carducci reading from selected works, including his new book, "Enter Naomi," at Book Soup in West Hollywood. Carducci (pictured at left) also guests on KXLU radio's "Stray Pop" program tonight at 11; stream it here.

Why should you care? Here's why:

In 1991, Joe Carducci published a massive, brilliant, stupid, exhaustive, exhausting book called "Rock and the Pop Narcotic," which set out a theory of what mattered in rock music that inspired many and infuriated more. Since he was office manager/utility infielder at SST, one of the key labels defining American punk, Carducci had more right than most to spout on about the importance of bands like Husker Du and Black Flag.

I hated that book: Carducci came off as a macho libertarian in love with some romantic idea of the working class, who thought male bonding was the key ingredient in music-making, that establishment rock critics were namby-pamby liberals and that anything aimed at the marketplace (i.e., at girls) was hopelessly corrupt. Worst of all were rock bands with pop pretensions. I was a girl who liked U2 and loved reading rock criticism. Carducci and I were not bound to get along.

Now that I'm less defensive about strong thinkers whose viewpoints contradict my own, I can see the value in Carducci's impassioned embrace of the miraculous transformations that happen when a few sweaty dudes -- and, Carducci acknowledges, possibly a woman or two -- make loud music together. I dip into "Rock and the Pop Narcotic" (which he revised in 1995, and published in a third edition on Redoubt Press in 2005) when I need a shot of provocative thinking or a great description of garage rock.

What brought me back to Carducci, though, was an online tribute he wrote in 2005 (still accessible here) about a woman who never made music, though she loved punk and played a role in its glory days.

‘Alf’ on Amy Winehouse: Yaz’s Alison Moyet passes the torch

When the book is written on England's top soul singers of all time, Alison Moyet's throaty growl will surely be in the proverbial mix. The voice of Yaz, who just dropped her seventh solo record Tuesday and performs tonight (the last of three shows at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown L.A.) with Vince Clarke as one half of the acclaimed electropop duo Yazoo, as they are known in the U.K., hasn't lost a step when it comes to hitting all the right notes with her primal-yet-sensual vocalization.

And while Moyet was the chanson-influenced R&B voice of the 1980s, we were curious what the "Situation" singer thought of England's current voice-of-the-moment: Amy Winehouse.

As anyone who attended last year's American Apparel sample-sale blowout at their downtown factory (guilty!) knows, few things will pry pan-ethnic art school dropouts from their weekend hangovers like the promise of $1 terrycloth headbands. This year's installment on July 27 is upping the ante with the promise of a "Secret French musical guest," and the obvious list of suspects -- Justice, Yelle, the Ed Banger crew, heck, maybe Daft Punk -- is making the feverish speculative rounds.

Silly hipsters. Of course the correct answer is Sebastien Tellier, who not only has the sample sale date blocked off on his tour schedule as "AA Show" in Los Angeles, but Tellier debuted his new album "Sexuality" on American Apparel shelves before it ever hit music stores. Expect deep, deep discounts on Sexual Sportswear of all stripes at the sale, that is, if any of you kids even wear clothes these days.

--August Brown

Dov Charney photo by Jennifer S. Altman/For The Times

Shawties, don't go to the club tonight. According to a press release from Live Nation, tonight's T.I. show is cancelled.

On Saturday, "La Plazita Olvera" (read: Olvera Street) won't be the usual quiet stop for tourists seeking to nosh and stroll the cobblestone paths looking for souvenirs. It will be home to a deluge of sounds coming from the ska, reggae and punk festival LA Sound System. The festival will offer a sonic cultural exchange with nearly 30 bands on three stages from all over Latin America and Europe.

I don't know what makes me more squeamish -- typing that title or looking at the increasingly cutesy candids of lovebirds Devendra Banhart and Moby's old flame, Natalie Portman. From bald to beard, huh? But more importantly, the hairy freak-folk favorite has a new band, Megapuss, which will reveal itself to the world at a free Hammer Museum concert at 8 p.m. Wednesday. According to Naturalismo, the band is Banhart and Priestbird drummer Greg Rogove, who started the duo as a joke and ended up writing eight songs. One of them is the surreal-as-it-sounds "Duck People Duck Man," which they'll undoubtedly perform. Aziz Ansari, the "Human Giant" comedian and recent addition to the upcoming spinoff of "The Office," promises to be on hand to contribute his vocal part.

--David Greenwald

Photo of Devendra Banhart by Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times

Nearly everything in Irvine closes at 10 p.m. Basically, if you're a student or enjoy some sort of nightlife, you're pretty much out of luck. Irvine is like a frozen tundra when it comes to some sort of music scene: Epic jam sessions cannot survive. Dance parties wither and die. Everyone listens to Jack Johnson.

But there's now a ray of light in our fair corporate metropolis. Since late January, the student-run DIY group Acrobatics Everyday has been bringing local and touring indie bands to the UC Irvine campus. But wait, doesn’t Chain Reaction in Anaheim already provide this? That’s somewhat true, except the bands that play there are all emo-pop outfits from your little sister's iPod.

AE founder Sam Farzin, a UC Irvine student and music director of KUCI-FM (88.9), felt the city needed more variety and, let’s face it, better bands: “Why not start by attempting to introduce wonderful, palatable sounds to a whole new audience that would never otherwise know they existed? My main goal is to get people in the area excited about music. Off of their computers and into classrooms, restaurants, lecture halls, conference rooms — watching music … wherever we can fit a PA.”

Also, because all the money that Acrobatics Everyday generates goes directly to the bands, there is no commercial agenda.

The ever-expanding list of bands that have played at Acrobatics Everyday include spazz-tastic Dan Deacon, heartfelt indie pop band Mount Eerie (formerly the Microphones), the stream-of-consciousness stylings of BARR and Mount Righteous, pictured above.

This Saturday, Acrobatics Everyday celebrates the beginning of summer and its six-month anniversary with the Bright Tomorrow Festival. The lineup include Devon Williams (formerly of Osker), Infinite Body, Glasser (with the BodyCity dance troupe), Rafter, Red Pony Clock, Talkdemonic, and Lloyd & Michael (formerly of Dear Nora). The fest starts at 3 p.m., costs $8 and, like every AE show, is all-ages.

“I hope people will come to an Acrobatics Everyday show," Farzin says, "and leave happy, excited about life, and looking forward to the next show.”

Perhaps Irvine doesn’t suck anymore.

-- post and photo by Vivian Lee

Future events include Bird Names and Wummin (June 25) and Thao with the Get Down Stay Down and Da Bears (Aug. 1).

For more information and the full calendar, click here.

Tomorrow at 7 p.m., Arthur Magazine and Redoubt Press present Joe Carducci reading from selected works, including his new book, "Enter Naomi," at Book Soup in West Hollywood. Carducci (pictured at left) also guests on KXLU radio's "Stray Pop" program tonight at 11; stream it here.

Why should you care? Here's why:

In 1991, Joe Carducci published a massive, brilliant, stupid, exhaustive, exhausting book called "Rock and the Pop Narcotic," which set out a theory of what mattered in rock music that inspired many and infuriated more. Since he was office manager/utility infielder at SST, one of the key labels defining American punk, Carducci had more right than most to spout on about the importance of bands like Husker Du and Black Flag.

I hated that book: Carducci came off as a macho libertarian in love with some romantic idea of the working class, who thought male bonding was the key ingredient in music-making, that establishment rock critics were namby-pamby liberals and that anything aimed at the marketplace (i.e., at girls) was hopelessly corrupt. Worst of all were rock bands with pop pretensions. I was a girl who liked U2 and loved reading rock criticism. Carducci and I were not bound to get along.

Now that I'm less defensive about strong thinkers whose viewpoints contradict my own, I can see the value in Carducci's impassioned embrace of the miraculous transformations that happen when a few sweaty dudes -- and, Carducci acknowledges, possibly a woman or two -- make loud music together. I dip into "Rock and the Pop Narcotic" (which he revised in 1995, and published in a third edition on Redoubt Press in 2005) when I need a shot of provocative thinking or a great description of garage rock.

What brought me back to Carducci, though, was an online tribute he wrote in 2005 (still accessible here) about a woman who never made music, though she loved punk and played a role in its glory days.

American Apparel sample sale ‘08: come for the unitards, stay for “Secret French musical guest”

As anyone who attended last year's American Apparel sample-sale blowout at their downtown factory (guilty!) knows, few things will pry pan-ethnic art school dropouts from their weekend hangovers like the promise of $1 terrycloth headbands. This year's installment on July 27 is upping the ante with the promise of a "Secret French musical guest," and the obvious list of suspects -- Justice, Yelle, the Ed Banger crew, heck, maybe Daft Punk -- is making the feverish speculative rounds.

Silly hipsters. Of course the correct answer is Sebastien Tellier, who not only has the sample sale date blocked off on his tour schedule as "AA Show" in Los Angeles, but Tellier debuted his new album "Sexuality" on American Apparel shelves before it ever hit music stores. Expect deep, deep discounts on Sexual Sportswear of all stripes at the sale, that is, if any of you kids even wear clothes these days.

--August Brown

Dov Charney photo by Jennifer S. Altman/For The Times

Shawties, don't go to the club tonight. According to a press release from Live Nation, tonight's T.I. show is cancelled.

On Saturday, "La Plazita Olvera" (read: Olvera Street) won't be the usual quiet stop for tourists seeking to nosh and stroll the cobblestone paths looking for souvenirs. It will be home to a deluge of sounds coming from the ska, reggae and punk festival LA Sound System. The festival will offer a sonic cultural exchange with nearly 30 bands on three stages from all over Latin America and Europe.

I don't know what makes me more squeamish -- typing that title or looking at the increasingly cutesy candids of lovebirds Devendra Banhart and Moby's old flame, Natalie Portman. From bald to beard, huh? But more importantly, the hairy freak-folk favorite has a new band, Megapuss, which will reveal itself to the world at a free Hammer Museum concert at 8 p.m. Wednesday. According to Naturalismo, the band is Banhart and Priestbird drummer Greg Rogove, who started the duo as a joke and ended up writing eight songs. One of them is the surreal-as-it-sounds "Duck People Duck Man," which they'll undoubtedly perform. Aziz Ansari, the "Human Giant" comedian and recent addition to the upcoming spinoff of "The Office," promises to be on hand to contribute his vocal part.

--David Greenwald

Photo of Devendra Banhart by Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times

Nearly everything in Irvine closes at 10 p.m. Basically, if you're a student or enjoy some sort of nightlife, you're pretty much out of luck. Irvine is like a frozen tundra when it comes to some sort of music scene: Epic jam sessions cannot survive. Dance parties wither and die. Everyone listens to Jack Johnson.

But there's now a ray of light in our fair corporate metropolis. Since late January, the student-run DIY group Acrobatics Everyday has been bringing local and touring indie bands to the UC Irvine campus. But wait, doesn’t Chain Reaction in Anaheim already provide this? That’s somewhat true, except the bands that play there are all emo-pop outfits from your little sister's iPod.

AE founder Sam Farzin, a UC Irvine student and music director of KUCI-FM (88.9), felt the city needed more variety and, let’s face it, better bands: “Why not start by attempting to introduce wonderful, palatable sounds to a whole new audience that would never otherwise know they existed? My main goal is to get people in the area excited about music. Off of their computers and into classrooms, restaurants, lecture halls, conference rooms — watching music … wherever we can fit a PA.”

Also, because all the money that Acrobatics Everyday generates goes directly to the bands, there is no commercial agenda.

The ever-expanding list of bands that have played at Acrobatics Everyday include spazz-tastic Dan Deacon, heartfelt indie pop band Mount Eerie (formerly the Microphones), the stream-of-consciousness stylings of BARR and Mount Righteous, pictured above.

This Saturday, Acrobatics Everyday celebrates the beginning of summer and its six-month anniversary with the Bright Tomorrow Festival. The lineup include Devon Williams (formerly of Osker), Infinite Body, Glasser (with the BodyCity dance troupe), Rafter, Red Pony Clock, Talkdemonic, and Lloyd & Michael (formerly of Dear Nora). The fest starts at 3 p.m., costs $8 and, like every AE show, is all-ages.

“I hope people will come to an Acrobatics Everyday show," Farzin says, "and leave happy, excited about life, and looking forward to the next show.”

Perhaps Irvine doesn’t suck anymore.

-- post and photo by Vivian Lee

Future events include Bird Names and Wummin (June 25) and Thao with the Get Down Stay Down and Da Bears (Aug. 1).

For more information and the full calendar, click here.

Tomorrow at 7 p.m., Arthur Magazine and Redoubt Press present Joe Carducci reading from selected works, including his new book, "Enter Naomi," at Book Soup in West Hollywood. Carducci (pictured at left) also guests on KXLU radio's "Stray Pop" program tonight at 11; stream it here.

Why should you care? Here's why:

In 1991, Joe Carducci published a massive, brilliant, stupid, exhaustive, exhausting book called "Rock and the Pop Narcotic," which set out a theory of what mattered in rock music that inspired many and infuriated more. Since he was office manager/utility infielder at SST, one of the key labels defining American punk, Carducci had more right than most to spout on about the importance of bands like Husker Du and Black Flag.

I hated that book: Carducci came off as a macho libertarian in love with some romantic idea of the working class, who thought male bonding was the key ingredient in music-making, that establishment rock critics were namby-pamby liberals and that anything aimed at the marketplace (i.e., at girls) was hopelessly corrupt. Worst of all were rock bands with pop pretensions. I was a girl who liked U2 and loved reading rock criticism. Carducci and I were not bound to get along.

Now that I'm less defensive about strong thinkers whose viewpoints contradict my own, I can see the value in Carducci's impassioned embrace of the miraculous transformations that happen when a few sweaty dudes -- and, Carducci acknowledges, possibly a woman or two -- make loud music together. I dip into "Rock and the Pop Narcotic" (which he revised in 1995, and published in a third edition on Redoubt Press in 2005) when I need a shot of provocative thinking or a great description of garage rock.

What brought me back to Carducci, though, was an online tribute he wrote in 2005 (still accessible here) about a woman who never made music, though she loved punk and played a role in its glory days.

T.I.’s show at the Wiltern is canceled

Shawties, don't go to the club tonight. According to a press release from Live Nation, tonight's T.I. show is cancelled.

On Saturday, "La Plazita Olvera" (read: Olvera Street) won't be the usual quiet stop for tourists seeking to nosh and stroll the cobblestone paths looking for souvenirs. It will be home to a deluge of sounds coming from the ska, reggae and punk festival LA Sound System. The festival will offer a sonic cultural exchange with nearly 30 bands on three stages from all over Latin America and Europe.

I don't know what makes me more squeamish -- typing that title or looking at the increasingly cutesy candids of lovebirds Devendra Banhart and Moby's old flame, Natalie Portman. From bald to beard, huh? But more importantly, the hairy freak-folk favorite has a new band, Megapuss, which will reveal itself to the world at a free Hammer Museum concert at 8 p.m. Wednesday. According to Naturalismo, the band is Banhart and Priestbird drummer Greg Rogove, who started the duo as a joke and ended up writing eight songs. One of them is the surreal-as-it-sounds "Duck People Duck Man," which they'll undoubtedly perform. Aziz Ansari, the "Human Giant" comedian and recent addition to the upcoming spinoff of "The Office," promises to be on hand to contribute his vocal part.

--David Greenwald

Photo of Devendra Banhart by Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times

Nearly everything in Irvine closes at 10 p.m. Basically, if you're a student or enjoy some sort of nightlife, you're pretty much out of luck. Irvine is like a frozen tundra when it comes to some sort of music scene: Epic jam sessions cannot survive. Dance parties wither and die. Everyone listens to Jack Johnson.

But there's now a ray of light in our fair corporate metropolis. Since late January, the student-run DIY group Acrobatics Everyday has been bringing local and touring indie bands to the UC Irvine campus. But wait, doesn’t Chain Reaction in Anaheim already provide this? That’s somewhat true, except the bands that play there are all emo-pop outfits from your little sister's iPod.

AE founder Sam Farzin, a UC Irvine student and music director of KUCI-FM (88.9), felt the city needed more variety and, let’s face it, better bands: “Why not start by attempting to introduce wonderful, palatable sounds to a whole new audience that would never otherwise know they existed? My main goal is to get people in the area excited about music. Off of their computers and into classrooms, restaurants, lecture halls, conference rooms — watching music … wherever we can fit a PA.”

Also, because all the money that Acrobatics Everyday generates goes directly to the bands, there is no commercial agenda.

The ever-expanding list of bands that have played at Acrobatics Everyday include spazz-tastic Dan Deacon, heartfelt indie pop band Mount Eerie (formerly the Microphones), the stream-of-consciousness stylings of BARR and Mount Righteous, pictured above.

This Saturday, Acrobatics Everyday celebrates the beginning of summer and its six-month anniversary with the Bright Tomorrow Festival. The lineup include Devon Williams (formerly of Osker), Infinite Body, Glasser (with the BodyCity dance troupe), Rafter, Red Pony Clock, Talkdemonic, and Lloyd & Michael (formerly of Dear Nora). The fest starts at 3 p.m., costs $8 and, like every AE show, is all-ages.

“I hope people will come to an Acrobatics Everyday show," Farzin says, "and leave happy, excited about life, and looking forward to the next show.”

Perhaps Irvine doesn’t suck anymore.

-- post and photo by Vivian Lee

Future events include Bird Names and Wummin (June 25) and Thao with the Get Down Stay Down and Da Bears (Aug. 1).

For more information and the full calendar, click here.

Tomorrow at 7 p.m., Arthur Magazine and Redoubt Press present Joe Carducci reading from selected works, including his new book, "Enter Naomi," at Book Soup in West Hollywood. Carducci (pictured at left) also guests on KXLU radio's "Stray Pop" program tonight at 11; stream it here.

Why should you care? Here's why:

In 1991, Joe Carducci published a massive, brilliant, stupid, exhaustive, exhausting book called "Rock and the Pop Narcotic," which set out a theory of what mattered in rock music that inspired many and infuriated more. Since he was office manager/utility infielder at SST, one of the key labels defining American punk, Carducci had more right than most to spout on about the importance of bands like Husker Du and Black Flag.

I hated that book: Carducci came off as a macho libertarian in love with some romantic idea of the working class, who thought male bonding was the key ingredient in music-making, that establishment rock critics were namby-pamby liberals and that anything aimed at the marketplace (i.e., at girls) was hopelessly corrupt. Worst of all were rock bands with pop pretensions. I was a girl who liked U2 and loved reading rock criticism. Carducci and I were not bound to get along.

Now that I'm less defensive about strong thinkers whose viewpoints contradict my own, I can see the value in Carducci's impassioned embrace of the miraculous transformations that happen when a few sweaty dudes -- and, Carducci acknowledges, possibly a woman or two -- make loud music together. I dip into "Rock and the Pop Narcotic" (which he revised in 1995, and published in a third edition on Redoubt Press in 2005) when I need a shot of provocative thinking or a great description of garage rock.

What brought me back to Carducci, though, was an online tribute he wrote in 2005 (still accessible here) about a woman who never made music, though she loved punk and played a role in its glory days.

LA Sound System comes downtown

On Saturday, "La Plazita Olvera" (read: Olvera Street) won't be the usual quiet stop for tourists seeking to nosh and stroll the cobblestone paths looking for souvenirs. It will be home to a deluge of sounds coming from the ska, reggae and punk festival LA Sound System. The festival will offer a sonic cultural exchange with nearly 30 bands on three stages from all over Latin America and Europe.

I don't know what makes me more squeamish -- typing that title or looking at the increasingly cutesy candids of lovebirds Devendra Banhart and Moby's old flame, Natalie Portman. From bald to beard, huh? But more importantly, the hairy freak-folk favorite has a new band, Megapuss, which will reveal itself to the world at a free Hammer Museum concert at 8 p.m. Wednesday. According to Naturalismo, the band is Banhart and Priestbird drummer Greg Rogove, who started the duo as a joke and ended up writing eight songs. One of them is the surreal-as-it-sounds "Duck People Duck Man," which they'll undoubtedly perform. Aziz Ansari, the "Human Giant" comedian and recent addition to the upcoming spinoff of "The Office," promises to be on hand to contribute his vocal part.

--David Greenwald

Photo of Devendra Banhart by Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times

Nearly everything in Irvine closes at 10 p.m. Basically, if you're a student or enjoy some sort of nightlife, you're pretty much out of luck. Irvine is like a frozen tundra when it comes to some sort of music scene: Epic jam sessions cannot survive. Dance parties wither and die. Everyone listens to Jack Johnson.

But there's now a ray of light in our fair corporate metropolis. Since late January, the student-run DIY group Acrobatics Everyday has been bringing local and touring indie bands to the UC Irvine campus. But wait, doesn’t Chain Reaction in Anaheim already provide this? That’s somewhat true, except the bands that play there are all emo-pop outfits from your little sister's iPod.

AE founder Sam Farzin, a UC Irvine student and music director of KUCI-FM (88.9), felt the city needed more variety and, let’s face it, better bands: “Why not start by attempting to introduce wonderful, palatable sounds to a whole new audience that would never otherwise know they existed? My main goal is to get people in the area excited about music. Off of their computers and into classrooms, restaurants, lecture halls, conference rooms — watching music … wherever we can fit a PA.”

Also, because all the money that Acrobatics Everyday generates goes directly to the bands, there is no commercial agenda.

The ever-expanding list of bands that have played at Acrobatics Everyday include spazz-tastic Dan Deacon, heartfelt indie pop band Mount Eerie (formerly the Microphones), the stream-of-consciousness stylings of BARR and Mount Righteous, pictured above.

This Saturday, Acrobatics Everyday celebrates the beginning of summer and its six-month anniversary with the Bright Tomorrow Festival. The lineup include Devon Williams (formerly of Osker), Infinite Body, Glasser (with the BodyCity dance troupe), Rafter, Red Pony Clock, Talkdemonic, and Lloyd & Michael (formerly of Dear Nora). The fest starts at 3 p.m., costs $8 and, like every AE show, is all-ages.

“I hope people will come to an Acrobatics Everyday show," Farzin says, "and leave happy, excited about life, and looking forward to the next show.”

Perhaps Irvine doesn’t suck anymore.

-- post and photo by Vivian Lee

Future events include Bird Names and Wummin (June 25) and Thao with the Get Down Stay Down and Da Bears (Aug. 1).

For more information and the full calendar, click here.

Tomorrow at 7 p.m., Arthur Magazine and Redoubt Press present Joe Carducci reading from selected works, including his new book, "Enter Naomi," at Book Soup in West Hollywood. Carducci (pictured at left) also guests on KXLU radio's "Stray Pop" program tonight at 11; stream it here.

Why should you care? Here's why:

In 1991, Joe Carducci published a massive, brilliant, stupid, exhaustive, exhausting book called "Rock and the Pop Narcotic," which set out a theory of what mattered in rock music that inspired many and infuriated more. Since he was office manager/utility infielder at SST, one of the key labels defining American punk, Carducci had more right than most to spout on about the importance of bands like Husker Du and Black Flag.

I hated that book: Carducci came off as a macho libertarian in love with some romantic idea of the working class, who thought male bonding was the key ingredient in music-making, that establishment rock critics were namby-pamby liberals and that anything aimed at the marketplace (i.e., at girls) was hopelessly corrupt. Worst of all were rock bands with pop pretensions. I was a girl who liked U2 and loved reading rock criticism. Carducci and I were not bound to get along.

Now that I'm less defensive about strong thinkers whose viewpoints contradict my own, I can see the value in Carducci's impassioned embrace of the miraculous transformations that happen when a few sweaty dudes -- and, Carducci acknowledges, possibly a woman or two -- make loud music together. I dip into "Rock and the Pop Narcotic" (which he revised in 1995, and published in a third edition on Redoubt Press in 2005) when I need a shot of provocative thinking or a great description of garage rock.

What brought me back to Carducci, though, was an online tribute he wrote in 2005 (still accessible here) about a woman who never made music, though she loved punk and played a role in its glory days.

Devendra Banhart brings his Megapuss to the Hammer

I don't know what makes me more squeamish -- typing that title or looking at the increasingly cutesy candids of lovebirds Devendra Banhart and Moby's old flame, Natalie Portman. From bald to beard, huh? But more importantly, the hairy freak-folk favorite has a new band, Megapuss, which will reveal itself to the world at a free Hammer Museum concert at 8 p.m. Wednesday. According to Naturalismo, the band is Banhart and Priestbird drummer Greg Rogove, who started the duo as a joke and ended up writing eight songs. One of them is the surreal-as-it-sounds "Duck People Duck Man," which they'll undoubtedly perform. Aziz Ansari, the "Human Giant" comedian and recent addition to the upcoming spinoff of "The Office," promises to be on hand to contribute his vocal part.

--David Greenwald

Photo of Devendra Banhart by Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times

Nearly everything in Irvine closes at 10 p.m. Basically, if you're a student or enjoy some sort of nightlife, you're pretty much out of luck. Irvine is like a frozen tundra when it comes to some sort of music scene: Epic jam sessions cannot survive. Dance parties wither and die. Everyone listens to Jack Johnson.

But there's now a ray of light in our fair corporate metropolis. Since late January, the student-run DIY group Acrobatics Everyday has been bringing local and touring indie bands to the UC Irvine campus. But wait, doesn’t Chain Reaction in Anaheim already provide this? That’s somewhat true, except the bands that play there are all emo-pop outfits from your little sister's iPod.

AE founder Sam Farzin, a UC Irvine student and music director of KUCI-FM (88.9), felt the city needed more variety and, let’s face it, better bands: “Why not start by attempting to introduce wonderful, palatable sounds to a whole new audience that would never otherwise know they existed? My main goal is to get people in the area excited about music. Off of their computers and into classrooms, restaurants, lecture halls, conference rooms — watching music … wherever we can fit a PA.”

Also, because all the money that Acrobatics Everyday generates goes directly to the bands, there is no commercial agenda.

The ever-expanding list of bands that have played at Acrobatics Everyday include spazz-tastic Dan Deacon, heartfelt indie pop band Mount Eerie (formerly the Microphones), the stream-of-consciousness stylings of BARR and Mount Righteous, pictured above.

This Saturday, Acrobatics Everyday celebrates the beginning of summer and its six-month anniversary with the Bright Tomorrow Festival. The lineup include Devon Williams (formerly of Osker), Infinite Body, Glasser (with the BodyCity dance troupe), Rafter, Red Pony Clock, Talkdemonic, and Lloyd & Michael (formerly of Dear Nora). The fest starts at 3 p.m., costs $8 and, like every AE show, is all-ages.

“I hope people will come to an Acrobatics Everyday show," Farzin says, "and leave happy, excited about life, and looking forward to the next show.”

Perhaps Irvine doesn’t suck anymore.

-- post and photo by Vivian Lee

Future events include Bird Names and Wummin (June 25) and Thao with the Get Down Stay Down and Da Bears (Aug. 1).

For more information and the full calendar, click here.

Tomorrow at 7 p.m., Arthur Magazine and Redoubt Press present Joe Carducci reading from selected works, including his new book, "Enter Naomi," at Book Soup in West Hollywood. Carducci (pictured at left) also guests on KXLU radio's "Stray Pop" program tonight at 11; stream it here.

Why should you care? Here's why:

In 1991, Joe Carducci published a massive, brilliant, stupid, exhaustive, exhausting book called "Rock and the Pop Narcotic," which set out a theory of what mattered in rock music that inspired many and infuriated more. Since he was office manager/utility infielder at SST, one of the key labels defining American punk, Carducci had more right than most to spout on about the importance of bands like Husker Du and Black Flag.

I hated that book: Carducci came off as a macho libertarian in love with some romantic idea of the working class, who thought male bonding was the key ingredient in music-making, that establishment rock critics were namby-pamby liberals and that anything aimed at the marketplace (i.e., at girls) was hopelessly corrupt. Worst of all were rock bands with pop pretensions. I was a girl who liked U2 and loved reading rock criticism. Carducci and I were not bound to get along.

Now that I'm less defensive about strong thinkers whose viewpoints contradict my own, I can see the value in Carducci's impassioned embrace of the miraculous transformations that happen when a few sweaty dudes -- and, Carducci acknowledges, possibly a woman or two -- make loud music together. I dip into "Rock and the Pop Narcotic" (which he revised in 1995, and published in a third edition on Redoubt Press in 2005) when I need a shot of provocative thinking or a great description of garage rock.

What brought me back to Carducci, though, was an online tribute he wrote in 2005 (still accessible here) about a woman who never made music, though she loved punk and played a role in its glory days.

Acrobatics Everyday brings musical back flips to Irvine

Nearly everything in Irvine closes at 10 p.m. Basically, if you're a student or enjoy some sort of nightlife, you're pretty much out of luck. Irvine is like a frozen tundra when it comes to some sort of music scene: Epic jam sessions cannot survive. Dance parties wither and die. Everyone listens to Jack Johnson.

But there's now a ray of light in our fair corporate metropolis. Since late January, the student-run DIY group Acrobatics Everyday has been bringing local and touring indie bands to the UC Irvine campus. But wait, doesn’t Chain Reaction in Anaheim already provide this? That’s somewhat true, except the bands that play there are all emo-pop outfits from your little sister's iPod.

AE founder Sam Farzin, a UC Irvine student and music director of KUCI-FM (88.9), felt the city needed more variety and, let’s face it, better bands: “Why not start by attempting to introduce wonderful, palatable sounds to a whole new audience that would never otherwise know they existed? My main goal is to get people in the area excited about music. Off of their computers and into classrooms, restaurants, lecture halls, conference rooms — watching music … wherever we can fit a PA.”

Also, because all the money that Acrobatics Everyday generates goes directly to the bands, there is no commercial agenda.

The ever-expanding list of bands that have played at Acrobatics Everyday include spazz-tastic Dan Deacon, heartfelt indie pop band Mount Eerie (formerly the Microphones), the stream-of-consciousness stylings of BARR and Mount Righteous, pictured above.

This Saturday, Acrobatics Everyday celebrates the beginning of summer and its six-month anniversary with the Bright Tomorrow Festival. The lineup include Devon Williams (formerly of Osker), Infinite Body, Glasser (with the BodyCity dance troupe), Rafter, Red Pony Clock, Talkdemonic, and Lloyd & Michael (formerly of Dear Nora). The fest starts at 3 p.m., costs $8 and, like every AE show, is all-ages.

“I hope people will come to an Acrobatics Everyday show," Farzin says, "and leave happy, excited about life, and looking forward to the next show.”

Perhaps Irvine doesn’t suck anymore.

-- post and photo by Vivian Lee

Future events include Bird Names and Wummin (June 25) and Thao with the Get Down Stay Down and Da Bears (Aug. 1).

For more information and the full calendar, click here.

Tomorrow at 7 p.m., Arthur Magazine and Redoubt Press present Joe Carducci reading from selected works, including his new book, "Enter Naomi," at Book Soup in West Hollywood. Carducci (pictured at left) also guests on KXLU radio's "Stray Pop" program tonight at 11; stream it here.

Why should you care? Here's why:

In 1991, Joe Carducci published a massive, brilliant, stupid, exhaustive, exhausting book called "Rock and the Pop Narcotic," which set out a theory of what mattered in rock music that inspired many and infuriated more. Since he was office manager/utility infielder at SST, one of the key labels defining American punk, Carducci had more right than most to spout on about the importance of bands like Husker Du and Black Flag.

I hated that book: Carducci came off as a macho libertarian in love with some romantic idea of the working class, who thought male bonding was the key ingredient in music-making, that establishment rock critics were namby-pamby liberals and that anything aimed at the marketplace (i.e., at girls) was hopelessly corrupt. Worst of all were rock bands with pop pretensions. I was a girl who liked U2 and loved reading rock criticism. Carducci and I were not bound to get along.

Now that I'm less defensive about strong thinkers whose viewpoints contradict my own, I can see the value in Carducci's impassioned embrace of the miraculous transformations that happen when a few sweaty dudes -- and, Carducci acknowledges, possibly a woman or two -- make loud music together. I dip into "Rock and the Pop Narcotic" (which he revised in 1995, and published in a third edition on Redoubt Press in 2005) when I need a shot of provocative thinking or a great description of garage rock.

What brought me back to Carducci, though, was an online tribute he wrote in 2005 (still accessible here) about a woman who never made music, though she loved punk and played a role in its glory days.

Joe Carducci gives us some truth

Tomorrow at 7 p.m., Arthur Magazine and Redoubt Press present Joe Carducci reading from selected works, including his new book, "Enter Naomi," at Book Soup in West Hollywood. Carducci (pictured at left) also guests on KXLU radio's "Stray Pop" program tonight at 11; stream it here.

Why should you care? Here's why:

In 1991, Joe Carducci published a massive, brilliant, stupid, exhaustive, exhausting book called "Rock and the Pop Narcotic," which set out a theory of what mattered in rock music that inspired many and infuriated more. Since he was office manager/utility infielder at SST, one of the key labels defining American punk, Carducci had more right than most to spout on about the importance of bands like Husker Du and Black Flag.

I hated that book: Carducci came off as a macho libertarian in love with some romantic idea of the working class, who thought male bonding was the key ingredient in music-making, that establishment rock critics were namby-pamby liberals and that anything aimed at the marketplace (i.e., at girls) was hopelessly corrupt. Worst of all were rock bands with pop pretensions. I was a girl who liked U2 and loved reading rock criticism. Carducci and I were not bound to get along.

Now that I'm less defensive about strong thinkers whose viewpoints contradict my own, I can see the value in Carducci's impassioned embrace of the miraculous transformations that happen when a few sweaty dudes -- and, Carducci acknowledges, possibly a woman or two -- make loud music together. I dip into "Rock and the Pop Narcotic" (which he revised in 1995, and published in a third edition on Redoubt Press in 2005) when I need a shot of provocative thinking or a great description of garage rock.

What brought me back to Carducci, though, was an online tribute he wrote in 2005 (still accessible here) about a woman who never made music, though she loved punk and played a role in its glory days.