Last Sunday another musical great passed away after falling down an elevator shaft in NY. Gerhardt (Jerry) Fuchs was one of those people who let his talent do the talking for him. Jerry, was the drummer for such bands as The Juan Maclean, Holy Ghost, the Turning Machine and Maserati. We really dont know much about him, but we do know that his music has inspired many of us as well as many others in so many ways. As reported by the NY TIMES : [...]
The NY Post reported today that Jerry Fuchs, drummer for !!! and LCD Soundsystem died early this morning from a five-story fall in an elevator shaft. Sources said Fuchs, 34, was in the freight elevator with another male guest when it stopped three or four feet above the fifth floor. He and the man opened the door and attempted to jump out. The other man landed safely, but Fuchs' clothing caught on the elevator as he was jumping, yanking him back into a space under it. [...]
The Happy Hollows [pictured at the Eagle Rock Music Festival] have signed to Los Angeles-based independent label Autumn Tone Records , which in November will give wider release to the trio's self-birthed debut "Spells." The highly regarded (in Buzz Bands land, anyway) album will be released both digitally and physically, under Autumn Tone's new deal with Red Eye Distribution. For Autumn Tone, the four-year-old imprint founded by Justin Gage (proprietor of the popular blog An Aquarium Drunkard ), the Hollows represent the eighth artist on its increasingly diverse roster, and its fourth from Los Angeles. [...]
Last Thursday we were invited to join our new friend John P. and some DJ friends for the XBOX DJ HERO release party in downtown L.A. and even though this game has smashed all dreams of us becoming big "DJS" we still can not get enough of it. Have you ever been to a party / event where you immediately felt like it was too good to be true? Needless to say but XBOX knows how to party right. For the DJ HERO launch party, they rented out an amazing 2 story [...]
A slow burn can turn into a high intensity boil if you watch it for long enough. That's what happened at this party, with the early DJ set had by Holy Ghost! duo Nicholas Millhiser and Alex Frankel strategically going for nu-disco and casual house endurance rather than pre-midnight load-blowing, in order to make the [...]
LA-based Frankel (real name: Michael Orendy) released his sophomore album, Anonymity is the New Fame, on Autumn Tone Records this year, on September 1st. Not only is the album title great but the record company's name is quite apt for this particular release I think, as it's the perfect album to usher in the Fall. The album is beautiful, calm and enjoyable, in a really understated, quiet way -
Uh oh, someone's been geekin' out over Holy Ghost(!). Info about HG!, Arthur Baker, New Order, Nancy Whang, and Madonna wannabes along with mp3s after the jump.>> Holy Ghost has had a couple of my favorite remixes over the past few years, the most recent being Phoenix's Listzomania (officially titled the "Holy Ghost Loves Paris Remixomania" remix, now who's gonna pass *that* up?). Go find it now. They gave Moby's I Like to Move In Here the same treatment back last year. [...]
Chris Garneau's quirky pop music seems to float through midair, his tinkling piano and gentle strings carrying a voice so featherweight at at times it seems like the Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter doesn't want to wake his neighbors up. His sophomore album, "El Radio" (just out on Absolutely Kosher), was recorded in the sticks in New Hampshire and sounds like it, a folk/baroque tour of all things sylvan. It'll remind L.A. fans of the Frankel album. ||| Download (via the Music Slut ): "No More Pirates" ||| Live: [...]
In celebration of this decade in fashion, AnOther Magazine has paired the most influential designers with fashion's finest accomplices; the actresses, models, musicians and muses who inspire with their sense of style and the power of their image. The fashion houses granted AnOther Magazine personal access to their archives and the fashion editors carefully paired each icon with a look by one designer from the past 10 years. Two portfolios by Craig McDean and Hedi Slimane were coordinated over 18 months, with shoots in Paris, London, New York [...]
In celebration of this decade in fashion, AnOther Magazine has paired the most influential designers with fashion's finest accomplices; the actresses, models, musicians and muses who inspire with their sense of style and the power of their image. The fashion houses granted AnOther Magazine personal access to their archives and the fashion editors carefully paired each icon with a look by one designer from the past 10 years. Two portfolios by Craig McDean and Hedi Slimane were coordinated over 18 months, with shoots in Paris, London, New York and Los [...]
Los Angeles based songwriter/ composer/ multi-instrumentalist Michael Orendy, who performs as Frankel, returns with his stunning sophomore release Anonymity is the New Fame on Autumn Tone Records LA Weekly calls Anonymity is the New Fame one of the 10 Best LA releases of 09 SO FAR! HERE! "Anonymity is the New Fame, indeed. Frankel, the recording name of [...]
I'm a big fan of Aquarium Drunkard . It's hands-down one of the best and most informative music blogs you'll find. Those of you who read it daily know what I'm talking about, it's a true education in music. LAist, the website that sparked my attention with an earlier interview that featured Autumn Tone 's Frankel , sat down with Justin Gage. READ HERE . - photo via [...]
Living up to last week's Friday Mixtape was a pretty tall task. But we tried our very best. As always, below you'll find a mix of the week's best new singles, remixes, and covers, along with mp3s from some up-and-comers you just might want to check out. Enjoy! NEW Singles: "Don't Need A" by Cloak/Dagger "Ek Shaneesh" by Das Racist "Invisible Girl" by The King Khan & BBQ Show [...]
The word accessible can mean different things to different listeners, but the goal to reach a larger portion of the population really can't be faulted. In fact, I would hope that it would be a pretty common goal. You want to express what is within, you want share your experience, so isn't it a natural goal to want that expression to felt by as many people as possible? Chicago's Travis Lee Wiggins of Essex Chanel has been a prolific member of the local independent music scene for years, but for his latest project he felt compelled to set [...]
Try It Before You Buy It features free and legal mp3 downloads and full album streams from this week's music releases : A.A. Bondy: When the Devil's Loose full album stream "I Can See the Pines Are Dancing" [mp3] "When the Devil's Loose" [mp3] Apples In Stereo: [...]
One Track Mind now has four months of sharing great new music under our belts. Check out what we dished out over the past thirty days with the August 2009 MP3 Rewind. At the beginning of each month, we offer all of the songs from the previous month in one convenient download. Click here to download the August 2009 MP3 Rewind featuring the following tracks: Wheat "Changes Is" The Bloody Beetroots featuring The Cool Kids "Awesome" [ingenting] "Halleluja!" Wild [...]
That's the weakness here: there are no surprises, lyrically or musically. Some well-placed vocal harmonies rise above the musical textures especially in the title track, but fangless feedback and keyboard fills only take up space. Anonymity becomes too familiar, too genre-bound; later songs begin to inhabit a similar tempo and feel, especially once the piano gets replaced by the guitar. There is still a definably Los Angeles sound in this album, and Orendy shows a lot of promise on his sophomore Frankel effort—but he needs to show some bite, too.
A kitchen table chat with a soft-spoken friend.
Los Angeles, CA "Faux Science" Frankel on MySpace Frankel on The Hype Machine
If you've followed to the tale of Frankel over the past few years you may have noted that the reclusive bard rarely, if ever, performs live anymore. Frankel's interpretation of Nick Drake's "Know", off the Pink Moon LP, was a highlight of the Frankel solo set (read: without his occasional backing band). Using loops and [...]
Vampire Weekend - Cousins
Bobby B's Top 50 Albums Of The Decade (#25-21)
HOT CHIP TAKE another crack at IT and I’m IN
