
[A heaping helping of birthday wishes to David Byrne, and now to capsulize a busy night in the city:] Even if you steer clear of the boldfaced names playing the bigger rooms — Mos Def at the House of Blues, Murs and Tech N9ne at the Key Club, the Indigo Girls at the El Rey Theatre — tonight has a lot to offer. Three of L.A. most promising up-and-comers, Afternoons , the Happy Hollows and Warpaint , combine to fill [...]

The synth has come back in full force in popularity as of late in the "indie" world (see: Little Boots, La Roux, thecocknbullkid, etc. I use indie in quotation marks because all three of those are on major labels), but the common thread you are probably sensing with the aforementioned examples is that all of them are from across the pond, in the UK. What about America? Telepathe use plenty of synths and I consider them a sort of futuristic pop, but you can't really say they are POP in the traditional sense. There's some [...]

[Happy birthday to young Wisconsin native Holly Brook , who was just through L.A. opening for the guy who produced her album, Duncan Sheik ...] Tiny Vaudeville , the monthly variety shows that raise money for 826LA's free writing and tutoring programs for kids, have been going great guns. Music, comedy, craziness — these nights have offered it all. On tonight's menu is songstress Maria Taylor [pictured], funnywoman Laraine Newman and more. Speaking of 826LA, here's the place to go for [...]

[Hide the live chickens, Alice Cooper is celebrating a birthday today ...] Matt & Kim's latest album, "Grand" (released in January on Fader), is pretty lightweight stuff, but the duo [pictured] can charm an earflap beanie off a hipster and they always draw well in L.A. With the Mae Shi on the bill, the sold-out Troubadour should be party central (and there's a pizza party afterwards). ... Katy Perry admirer Little Boots , the "hotly tipped" (NME's words) dance-pop songstress from London, totes her [...]

I know I once again flaked on posting, but I've had a cold for the past couple of weeks that just doesn't know when to leave. Kind of like the creepy, wasted guy at the afterparty who can't seem to catch a hint. I'm feeling quite well today, so I took advantage of the better health and spent pretty much this entire day catching up on email and snail mail submissions. And to make up for my delay, today's post is going to be a massive one. I hate to say that I won't be able to give [...]

[Steve Perry and his platinum-selling pipes turn 60 years old today; let's hope that's a high note ...] It's being billed as the last L.A. show before Chromeo heads into the studio to make a new album — the Montreal electro duo plays to a sold-out Key Club tonight. And after that show, there's a DJ set/after-party at the Roxy one block east on Sunset Boulevard. ... Of course, the Roxy will be having a dance-tastic time itself, with War Tapes , Love Grenades [Liz Wight, pictured] and a [...]
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Alaska in Winter : "Berlin" [mp3] other Alaska in Winter posts at Largehearted Boy Cory Chisel : "A Change Is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke cover)" [mp3] other Cory Chisel posts at Largehearted Boy Drive-By Truckers : 2008-11-02, Tallahassee [mp3,ogg,flac] "Rockin' in the Free World (Neil Young cover [...]
Liz Wight of Love Grenades The music discovery machine keeps whirring. This one came via 3hive and although the track from Love Grenades is a solid piece of funk pop from the compilation Accidental Rhythm Mix1, the story behind the label is an interesting one. Accidental Rhythm is host to Invisible DJ, which is a little [...]
Oct 21, 2008, 3:30am
3hive

This track is a gem among gems on the new Accidental Rhythm compilation curated by Jason Eldredge and Jeremy Wineberg, a couple L.A. lads who are all that and a bag of chips. Hickory BBQ, my current fave. Need to spice up your life? Then boogie on down to this saucy track. This thing is all groove: brown chicken, brown cow! (What's the lead-in to that punchline?) and as classic as anything off Thriller , without all that Neverland baggage. Instead you get the gorgeous and sultry Liz Wight. Priceless. I should stop [...]