A lot of people say we've been getting soft and if listening to smooth jazz on the way home from Malibu wine tasting tweetups is considered soft than consider us flaccid. We hope to change things with probably the least soft lineup we've done since this one and we have AJ English from COMING to thank for pulling us out of our flaccidity. COMING celebrated the release of their debut Lonely EP cassette a few months ago and it was a performance so far from soft that we've had difficulty feeling any sensation, soft [...]
We do. It's true. Statistically, we've probably covered more female-led bands over the years and judging by the new wave of talented young ladies on the horizon, that isn't going to change. But this weekend's friendly toe-to-toe battle between girls and boys at pehrspace isn't really meant to cause a divide between the sexes. We could easily remove the "vs" and replace it with "and" or "plus" or "+" but that's not sexy. And we all like sexy. This weekend we have gathered eight bands on two nights at pehrspace, beginning with Friday and four of our favorite [...]
Tuesday is the first show of a semi-regular series of showcases where friends of la-underground sing songs in the comfort of our beloved Lot 1 Cafe in Echo Park. To kick off everything, we asked Phoebe Bridgers, Stephanie Hunt, Mike Benecke, and Jonny Miller to serenade us with beauty that is their voices. If you didn't get the memo, word of mouth on Phoebe Bridgers is spreading quickly. We have already declared her the best pure singer-songwriter under 21 in the city of Los Angeles (aka the universe) and all you 21 plus-ers better watch your [...]
Deemed the loudest band at SXSW 2013 by us and anyone within a 5-mile square radius of their performances, Clipping might also be given best new L.A. band of the year when all is said and done given how undeniably brilliant their debut album Midcity is. The album consists of Rale and ex-Captain Ahab mastermind Snipes soundscaping some of the most intense and angular noise/beats for Diggs to crack off knowledge to -- with notable guest appearances from locals Ezra Buchla ("real"), Baseck ("bout.that"), Jalene Goodwin ("bullshit"), and others. This is the [...]
Tonight, we're presenting what should be an amazing evening with Emily Jane White , Tom Brosseau , Eliza Rickman , and Lia Rose at pehrspace. We must give most of the credit for this gathering to White and Rickman for letting us host the L.A. stop on their brief excursion to these parts. Both released fantastic records last year (White with her dark and delicate balladry in Ode to Sentience and Rickman with her wicked, baroque pop in O, You Sinners ) and we're [...]
Night two of our Echo Park heavy-handedness is Saturday featuring some of the prettiest voices we could gather... Easy boys, we already called dibs years ago. Chances are, if you're good at Internet-ing, you've stumbled across Britt Warner either from being mesmerized by her smoldering Lana Del Rey-esque tracks on Soundcloud , enraptured by her provocative images on Instagram , or falling in love with her offline in the dimly-lit bars in Hollywood she frequents. And if you're "All of the Above" then the 50-foot restraining order for stalking [...]
We are presenting two shows this weekend featuring two stacked lineups beginning this Friday at pehrspace... We really shouldn't have to keep accolading Rainman 's Rachel Rufrano any more than we already have the last few years since all you really have to do is listen to the simple genius of her most recent release Saturnalia over and over like we have and realize that she's shockingly still a hidden gem in the LA/LBC scene. "Keep My Mouth Shut" was one our 10 favorite songs of 2012. That is the truth. [...]
One listen to Dorian Wood and you'll be musically scarred for life and this is a good thing. What can we say about Dorian Wood that hasn't already been said? He is an enigma. A genius. Possibly a soothsayer. But, really, just a man that will move you with his words and his music unlike most any other artist you'll ever encounter. On March 1st, Wood celebrates the release of his new album Rattle Rattle , a sweeping triumph of a musical extravaganza if we ever did hear one. Individual songs on their own like [...]
It's been a good seven months since our last show and boy did we need that break. Instead of boring you with stories on what we've been doing this whole time, we'll just show you in the form of presenting three shows in February featuring a bunch of bands we've been stalking before and during our half-year slumber. We begin this Friday at our beloved pehrspace with Détective, Kent State, Pop/Soda, and Galaxy of Tar. Détective returns from a quick West Coast tour promoting their three fantastic 2012 releases including one of the year's best [...]
The Monolators have been our favorite L.A. band of the last 10 years. In other words, we have seen, hosted, and/or enjoyed more Monolators shows than any other local band in the last 10 years. We have also documented more Monolators shows than any other band ever as seen in our tribute video below. But we'll get to that. The Monolators are the epitome of who we love to root for -- the underdog. A band that has persevered through 10 years of ups and downs to find an audience in a city filled with thousands of [...]
If you brush away the cobwebs of this site, you might be able to find the remains of one or two (or a hundred) or so posts detailing our love for a band called Summer Darling . Don't bother looking for silly words though. Instead check out the video below we put together while on a flight from Dulles to LAX last week containing only a miniscule amount of the footage we've taken of the band over the years (basically, just the few photos and videos we had on our laptop). Similarly, it represents only a fraction of the [...]
Kim Free aka Sunny Winters fka Black Church just released her new video for "Guantanamo" off her new album Angel Shadow on LA's Fine Records. Director Brad Breeck (formerly of The Mae Shi; current frontman of Skull Tape ) creates an eerily ethereal setting for a hauntingly beautiful story (co-starring Greg Schoenecker and a little cameo from an Abe Vigoda member) that will likely make you fall in love with Ms. Free as much as we have. If you never saw the stunning Black Church (like the show we did with her at pehrspace [...]
For the finale of this four-shows-in-one-week-before- we-go-into-hibernation-again extravaganza, we bring you four local electronic/experimental/ambien t artist/producers that we're very honored play the intimate setting of pehrspace. LESSNESSES is the new project from the ever-brilliant Ezra Buchla who with Daniel Brummel and Corey Fogel blew us away with some recent performances. It's, by far, Buchla's most intense and mind-bending work to date and we cannot wait to see them again. Snorlax (aka Cody Farwell) is one our favorite electronic producer/musicians in town with some of the most clever bass drops and wind-up hooks we've heard, not to mention one badass [...]
So this is our anniversary show but, don't worry, we'll be celebrating with as little hoopla as when we started this thing exactly 15 years ago, July 12th. A lot has changed in Los Angeles since then and the scene was nothing like it is today. But we're happy to be here still helping bands when they need us and loving this city forever and ever. Lot 1 has graciously given us the night to have three new bands we love very much play some songs for everyone. We hope you can make it. If there's anything to [...]
We've been asked to present night #2 of Blondfire and In the Valley Below's residency at The Central. While most of us remember Blondfire when they were New Yorker's named Astaire, the Brother/Sister duo has seemed to come out hibernation with the release of several recent singles, most notably "Where The Kids Are," and two weekly residencies in two months. Good to see them back in action. In the Valley Below is quietly building some buzz themselves with the release of their recent EP, a hot streak of much talked-about shows, and just the fact that scene vets Angie Mattson [...]
We're helping with a handful of shows this month beginning with Friday's four band pileup of greatness at pehrspace. We've got Romantic Feelings and Ragana making their way down the coast to show you what's been making the kids in Olympia go crazy these days -- it should just a few listens on their respective Bandcamp pages to figure out why. Meanwhile, Victoria Noll returns to Los Angeles for a brief spell, giving us a taste of what she's been working on the last year in Austin. We've missed seeing her around town. Read our write-up on her if [...]
We haven't presented a show with a lineup of our own since our last night at Lot 1 back in February (which was one of our most favorite shows) but on Sunday that all changes as we head back to the lovely little cafe in Echo Park for an intimate affair with a few of our favorites. We caught White Dove at the Bootleg last month shortly after the band subtly announced via email list their name change from the ominous Monster to its new more benevolent one. And, oh dear, were we stunned. Even when [...]
We haven't presented a show with a lineup of our own since our last night at Lot 1 back in February (which was one of our most favorite shows) but on Sunday that all changes as we head back to the lovely little cafe in Echo Park for an intimate affair with a few of our favorites. We caught White Dove at the Bootleg last month shortly after the band subtly announced via email list their name change from the ominous Monster to its new more benevolent one. And, oh dear, were we stunned. Even when [...]
So hopefully by now you get the gist that Little Red Lung are pretty damn awesome in that rehearsal studio of theirs so for the finale we decided to take a break from all that and just go to lunch with them at Nickel Diner -- because a band's gotta eat. What was meant to be a sit-down interview-y talk about music and such turned into a very pleasant afternoon get-together over sandwiches, pastries, and a very welcome reunion with an old friend. But rather than bore you with the chit chat, why not just let [...]
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