Sunday 12.21.08: THE TERRAPIN / SUMMER DARLING / VAUDEVILLE / CORREATOWN

The Terrapin || Watch

with:
Summer Darling
Vaudeville
Correatown || Listen

9PM / FREE / 21+

Wednesday 11.12.08: Indie 103 presents CLUB NME with THE ENTRANCE BAND / THE GROWLERS / GOLDEN ANIMALS

The Entrance Band || Watch

When Los Angeles-based psychedelic rock trio the Entrance Band plays a show, it’s a happening. Not only because band members take sound and style inspiration from the ’60s counterculture that coined the term, as they demonstrated during a short set Sunday at the new Arthur Magazine Sunday Evenings music series at McCabe’s in Santa Monica. But also because their music creates the feeling that something fresh and powerful is afoot. A potent mix of political mindedness – including a few conspiracy theories – and musical virtuosity, their songs throb and wail and strive to open minds. -LA Times

with:
The Growlers
Golden Animals

plus DJs Dia, Jennifer, and Solid Todd spinning rock, indie, punk, electro alternative. No Cover after Midnight.

9pm / $10 advance; $12 day of show / 21+

Wednesday 10.22.08: Indie 103 presents CLUB NME with ROBYN (special acoustic performance)

Robyn || Listen || Watch

Looking like David Bowie’s little sister, Swedish starlet Robyn entered the arena in 1997 with “Show Me Love,” a generic dance-pop smash co-produced by hitmaker/Britney Spears sculptor Max Martin. But sensing a future of head-shaving and How I Met Your Mother cameos, Robyn jumped ship to start her own label and work with some of her edgier homeys: electro-goth oddballs the Knife and freaky club fusionist Teddybears.

The result, released in Sweden in 2005 and now available in a virtually identical version here, is a shiny mainstream pop record with enough wit and weirdness to impress even jaded bloggers. YouTube fave “Konichiwa Bitches” nods to Missy Elliott, Eminem and a classic Chappelle’s Show skit over hand claps and Eighties-style synth drums; it’s such nasty fun that her dubious rap skills don’t detract a bit. “Bionic Woman” quotes art-pop grand dame Laurie Anderson, while “Crash and Burn Girl” bites Buffalo Springfieldís “For What It’s Worth” over fat party beats. Sexy without being pandering, arty without being pretentious, Robyn is a public service: a record that can make indie-minded geeks dance without shame. -Rolling Stone

plus DJs Dia, Jennifer, and Solid Todd spinning rock, indie, punk, electro alternative. No Cover after Midnight.

9pm / $10 advance; $12 day of show / 21+

Wednesday 10.08.08: Indie 103 presents CLUB NME with MELISS FX / MEGASAPIAN / BLIND PILOT (from Portland)

Meliss FX || Listen

Her sassy vocal rhythms have been heard over house, electro, jazz, funk and drum ‘n bass in clubs and festivals around the globe. Meliss FX is an electronic fusion singer/songwriter who believes that “music is God’s key, puzzle piece and clue he has left behind for the world.” Early in her career Meliss FX shared the stage with Linda Rondstadt and toured as a backup vocalist with Barry Manilow. Recently she has collaborated with Alex Zelenka, Joshua Rumer, Charles Sedghi, Joli, Duncan Macfarlane, Brian Jordan, Riot FX and many other up-and-coming producers and DJs. Both as a recording and performing artist Meliss FX has energy and passion that audiences describe as an uplifting, powerful experience.

with:
Megasapian
Blind Pilot

plus DJs Dia, Jennifer, and Solid Todd spinning rock, indie, punk, electro alternative. No Cover after Midnight.

9pm / $5 / 21+

Wednesday 11.05.08: Indie 103 presents Club NME with APES & ANDROIDS

Apes & Androids || Listen || Watch

A dance floor-ready cocktail of Queen’s bombast (complete with Freddie Mercury’s falsetto), 1980s Prince, Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie and Beck’s Midnight Vultures. On their debut album Blood Moon, A&A pump out sing-alongs like “Hot Kathy,” party starters like “We Don’t Understand You” and simmering burners like “Riverside.” “We tried to build the record into something that would be a journey when listening to the whole thing,” says A&A’s Brian Jacobs, who shares vocal and guitar duties with bandmate David Tobias.
The band’s live performances are becoming as well-known as the songs themselves, with cheerleaders, giant silver skulls, face paint and even a Korean drum circle all making appearances for a unique live experience.
– Rolling Stone

plus DJs Dia, Jennifer, and Solid Todd spinning rock, indie, punk, electro alternative. No Cover after Midnight.

9pm / $8 advance; $10 day of show / 21+

Wednesday 10.29.08: Indie 103 presents CLUB NME with SPINNERETTE (feat. Brody Dalle) / FUTURE OF THE LEFT / SUPER SONIC JETS

Spinnerette (featuring Brody Dalle) || Listen

Spinnerette will consist of Dalle, The Distillers member Tony Bevilacqua, and Alain Johannes, who has worked with the likes of PJ Harvey and Eagles Of Death Metal.

Speaking about the reasons for recording her new songs with a new band, and not The Distillers, Dalle told NME.COM: “The songs seemed out of context and inappropriate for The Distillers. I felt ambivalent about sharing them with anyone.”

Dalle explained the difference in the sound of her new band.

She stated: “Spinnerette get a clean slate. She gets to start over and be the new kid in town, only she ain’t no kid. She’s quirky and sexy and she fucks around.” – NME

with:
Future of the Left || Listen
Super Sonic Jets

plus DJs Dia, Jennifer, and Solid Todd spinning rock, indie, punk, electro & alternative. No Cover after Midnight.

9pm / $12 advance; $14 day of show / 21+

Thursday 10.30.08: JON LAJOIE / IO ECHO / WHITE SHOES & THE COUPLES COMPANY

Jon Lajoie || Listen || Watch

Comedy fans, polish up your French accent: Jon Lajoie —lah-jwah— could soon become a name that bears repeating.
Lajoie, 27, is one of the stars of L’Auberge Du Chien Noir (“The Inn of the Black Dog”), a prime-time dramedy on French-Canadian TV. Never heard of it? Neither has anyone else in the Lower 48.
No, Lajoie’s growing — and improbable — cachet in the USA stems from being the delightful lunatic behind a handful of self-made music-video spoofs that are the rage on YouTube and Will Ferrell’s comedy-centric site funnyordie.com.
In his most-viewed video, Everyday Normal Guy, Lajoie curses up a storm while rapping about how “when I go to the clubs, I wait in line.” Think Adam Sandler without the weird, high-pitched vocals. – USA Today

AND

Io Echo || Listen || Watch

“IO IS A TRUE ROCKSTAR WHO IN TIME COULD TAKE HER PLACE NEXT TO SIOUXIE, JOEY RAMONE AND PATTY SMITH” -103.1 press release, Mr. Shovel

“IO ECHO SURE CAN PUT ON A HELL OF A PERFORMANCE”- Filter Magazine

“HAILED AS SOME OF THE BEST STUFF OF THE YEAR IN ROCK…YOU WILL FIND THE VOCALISTS’ PERFORMANCES SLIGHTLY CREEPY YET SATISFYING” – Deli Magazine

“EXPLOSIVE IN THE MOST ADDICTIVE WAY POSSIBLE” – LA City Zine

“IO ECHO IS BECOMING A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH” – Amateur Chemist

with:
White Shoes & The Couples Company

9PM / $12 advance; $14 day of show / 21+

Tuesday 10.14.08: PacificUV / MELODYGUILD / PETER PIEK / LANGUIS (DJ set)

PacificUV || Listen || Watch

Athens, Georgia transplants and shoegaze journeymen Pacific UV write Sigur Ros-sized symphonic movements that build and swirl with elegant serenity. As the soundtrack to a moon landing, the reference posts — from Ride to Spiritualized — are secure for the group’s interstellar sound, as the atmosphere is thicker, the guitars more towering and the catharis more rewarding than seems likely on Planet Earth. Ethereal and tender at times, channeling the sonic equivalent of nostalgia, Pacific UV can also kick it up a notch and unleash buzzsaw guitars that hold a candle to My Bloody Valentine’s tone, as they do on “Need…” – SPIN

with:
Melodyguild
Peter Piek
Languis (DJ set)

9PM / $5 / 21+

Thursday 10.02.08: LESLIE AND THE BADGERS / THE MUSIC LOVERS / DIVISADERO / THE MEEMIES

Leslie and the Badgers || Watch

Los Angeles-based Leslie & the Badgers make the exact style of country music you wish Jenny Lewis had when she dabbled her feet in the country waters. No offense to her Rabbit Fur Coat, which is fine, but damn if Leslie & the Badgers don’t put her to shame. The Badgers generously use the weepiest pedal steel, have sweetly mournful tear-in-your-beer lyrics, and singer Leslie Stevens holds it all together with incredible delivery and even more impressive pipes. Unfortunately No Depression just called it quits, because if there ever was a band that magazine was going to break, this is it. -Portland Mercury

with:
The Music Lovers || Listen
Divisadero || Listen
The Meemies

9 pm / $8 / 21+

Sunday 10.12.08: SHILOE Record Release Party / THE PACIFIC / LOVE’S LIKE SMOKE / KISSING COUSINS

Shiloe || Listen || Watch

Shiloe started off the evening with a sound heavily influenced by the Pixies mixed with some Sonic Youth. Ken Ramos (Vocals/Guitar) had a vocal delivery that resembled Thurston Moore and was squeezing a sharp fuzz from his Gibson SG. Melissa Pleckham (Bass) had a Rickenbacker bass that was filling the room with low notes. Their latest release is “Please Remove Your Teeth From My Neck” which you can download from itunes. I will have to check them out again. – Amateur Chemist

with:
The Pacific
Love’s Like Smoke
Kissing Cousins

9PM / FREE / 21+

Saturday 10.11.08: RADARS TO THE SKY / A DECENT ANIMAL / DANIEL BRUMMEL (of Ozma)

Radars to the Sky || Watch

They list some of my favorite bands as influences like Archers of Loaf, Pavement, Grandaddy and The Smiths. Andrew Spitser (Vocals/Guitars) has a distinctive voice that slightly reminded me of the Smoking Popes. “Victoria” was a dynamic blast of frantic guitars and bouncy keyboards that were pulled together nicely by Andrew’s longing vocals. “Sunk My Teeth” had plenty of false starts and stops with excellent contrast between Andrew’s Fender Stratocaster clean guitar blasts and Seamus Simpson’s slightly distorted Les Paul. I was highly impressed by their Pixies cover of “Alec Eiffel” as this song does not immediately jump out as one to cover but Radars To The Sky nailed it. “Selfish Kids” was a new song that reverberated loudly and bounced around the Echo. “Wave By The Sun” has to be one of the more off kilter tunes in their catalog as the guitars ricochet around your skull as the song has a slight Pavement alt country vibe – Amateur Chemist

with:
A Decent Animal || Listen
Daniel Brummel (of Ozma)

9PM / $8 advance; $10 day of show / 21+

Friday 10.10.08: Territory presents GRAVEYARD / NIGHT HORSE / IMAAD WASIF

Graveyard || Watch

Of the nearly 400 acts that played in Austin on the first night of SXSW 2008, Graveyard, from Gothenberg, Sweden, were probably the only band that would also have fit the bill at Britain’s great summer mud bath, the Glastonbury festival — in 1970. Graveyard’s set was just like their new debut album, Graveyard (Tee Pee): unison-fuzz riffs with sharp, rhythmic turnarounds — like a prog-rock Free or a nimbler Black Sabbath — and a singer, guitarist Joakim Nillson, whose growl recalls the gritty baritone of Savoy Brown’s Chris Youlden. If Graveyard had made an early-Seventies private-pressing LP that didn’t sell squat, they would be record-collector legends. Instead, they blew a few dozen minds at 9 p.m. on a Wednesday — thankfully without the mud. – Rolling Stone

with:
Night Horse
Imaad Wasif

9PM / $10 advance; $12 day of show / 21+

Sunday 10.05.08: Aquarium Drunkard presents HORSE FEATHERS / TRAVEL BY SEA

Horse Feathers || Listen

Horse Feathers’ songs may have words — enigmatic, artfully slurred words — but in many ways, the band might as well play instrumentals. Its two excellent albums, 2006′s Words Are Dead and the forthcoming House With No Home, offer up rustic, vaguely doomstruck atmosphere more than they convey discrete hooks and distinct messages. But it’s always beautiful atmosphere, and the group incorporates enough evocative turns of phrase to keep its music from turning into mere window dressing.

House With No Home opens with “Curs in the Weeds,” the meaning of which often seems as elusive as its string parts are haunting. A closer listen — or, more to the point, a glance at the lyric sheet — reveals a grim cautionary tale about an overlooked middle child in a household “where the son is the darkest seed.” As if the overarching sense of alienation weren’t already looming in the minor-key arrangement, singer Justin Ringle notes, “It’s like marrow without bone / to live in a house with no home.” It’s grim stuff, to be sure, but those strings are gorgeous enough to sweep the song’s entire generation of tragedy under the rug. – NPR

Travel By Sea || Listen

9 pm / $8 / 21+

Tuesday 10.28.08: JEFFREY LEWIS / TALKDEMONIC / HOMESICK ELEPHANT

Jeffrey Lewis || Listen || Watch

“Weird? Very… [...] but it’s also downright inspiring” (4 of 5 stars) – Rolling Stone

“The record presents Crass’s lyrics calmly, often demonstrating how sane and practical they are; it proves once again, and kind of thrillingly this time, that no music is immune to interpretation” – The New York Times

“Jeffrey Lewis retunes [Crass'] vituperative, cats-and-gravel-in-a-blender sound into something approaching sunny-side-up genius… [and] Crass’ lyrical, ultrapolitical vitriol is, if anything, more relevant than ever. It’s the most astonishing cover album of the last 10 years, bar none.” (4 of 5 stars) – Austin Chronicle

“Folk maverick raids anarchist commune and finds catchy tunes… Works wonderfully” – Spin

“Jeffrey Lewis’ talents appear without end… (on 12 Crass Songs he) magically makes the anarcho-rockers’ anti-establishment savagery his own, by wrapping their barbed sentiments in his trademark mottled tea-towel warmth” – NME

with:
Talkdemonic || Listen || Watch
Homesick Elephant

9PM / $8 ADVANCE; $10 DAY OF SHOW / 21+

Tuesday 10.07.08: DIVISION OF LAURA LEE / RUN THROUGH THE DESERT / GENTLEMEN PREFER BLOOD

Division of Laura Lee || Watch

The mighty, massive, sound of rock. You know how Josh Homme looks like he’s gonna turn into an 18-stone heifer any minute now? Well Gothenburg’s Division of Laura Lee sound like the heavy, self-hating and, er, hungry rock’n'roll that a bloated Homme would guzzle his way through. Frontman Per Stalberg looks every inch the perennial pie-eater, but he’s got Beezlebub in his bloodstream and QOTSA and Trail of Dead in his fingertips. Having eschewed the garage rock roots of their debut, DOLL have morphed into a temper-explodin’, strop-throwin’ antithesis to their Swedish peers; for Hives sophistication, see bowel-removing riffs of ‘Does Compute’, a clash of Jesus And Mary Chain moodiness and Deus dirtiness. Meanwhile, if you’re feeling deflated that The (International) Noise Conspiracy are going soft, then let schizoid space-rock anti-anthem ‘We Are Numbers’, where Stalberg sounds like he’s singing from the pit of Craig Nicholls’ rotting belly, use your lung as a bicycle pump and your head as a distortion pedal. Invading the middle ground between QOTSA and Turbonegro with the same subtlety with which George Bush invades others people’s countries, Division of Laura Lee have marked their territory. Christ knows, it’ll take some effort to move the heavy bastards. – NME

with:
Run Through the Desert || Listen
Gentlemen Prefer Blood

9PM / $12 advance; $14 day of show / 21+

Sunday 10.26.08: NEIL HAMBURGER / PLEASEEASAUR / NATASHA LEGGERO

Neil Hamburger

If Neil Hamburger wasn’t the Funniest Man in America, why would the record company keep letting him make so many albums? Can’t answer that question, can you? No, it’s beyond dispute, he is the funniest. End of debate. Don’t even mention Jack Kevorkian, Neil is waaaaay, waaaaaaaay more side-splittingly hilarious, and he’s a much bigger bummer. And he’s got a million of ‘em – why, if one of his jokes falls flat or makes you groan or feel like gagging, or say the next 80 or 90 “gags” don’t exactly make you howl with uproarious laughter, just wait, because Neil will pounce with just a killer, killer line that will make you pee in your pants and nudge the guy next to you so he spills his drink (and when he hits you, that’ll be funny too). You’ll be glad you shelled out your money and chose to spend your time, on a Sunday night, no less, with America’s funny man, Neil Hamburger. – LA Weekly

with:
Pleaseeasaur
Natasha Leggero || Listen

9 pm / $8 / 21+

Saturday 10.25.08: THE MONOLATORS Record Release Party / YOU ME AND IOWA / SUMMER DARLING / CORREATOWN

The Monolators || Listen || Watch

The ultracharming husband-&-wife duo the Monolators have expanded into a full quartet, with singer-guitarist Eli Chartkoff and singer-drummer Mary Chartkoff now joined by bassist Andrew Bollas and lead guitarist Tom Bogdon. Their new 10-inch EP, You Look Good on the Train, which is available only on vinyl or as a digital download (www.ninjastarrecords.com), fleshes out Eli’s lo-fi tunes with keyboards, saxophones and other instruments to wonderful effect. Eli croons the offbeat love songs “At the Top of the Stairs” (where he collects sea shells and rhapsodizes about a gal “in pink jeans and tambourines”) and “My Weaker Self” with his distinctly unusual, rubber-throated yowl, whereas Mary spits out the jangly title track and the loopy punk rock ditty “Eagle Fighting Zebra” (which is apparently about crazy women brawling at Mr. T’s Bowl) like a more melodic Exene Cervenka. As much as the Monolators might evoke the Modern Lovers and the Subsonics with such whimsical roots-pop songs as “Strawberry Roan,” from their 2006 CD, Our Tears Have Wings, they have their own indefinably unique style and are one of this town’s most promising new combos. -LA Weekly

with:
You Me And Iowa || Listen
Summer Darling || Listen
Correatown || Listen

9PM / $8 / 21+

Thursday 10.23.08: ROSE HILL DRIVE / COLOUR REVOLT / HIS ORCHESTRA

Rose Hill Drive || Listen || Watch

Rose Hill Drive are young men with plenty of Seventies in their bones. Live, singer-bassist Jacob Sproul, his brother, guitarist Daniel, and drummer Nathan Barnes make letter-perfect dynamite of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” and Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen” (backing Mountain’s own Leslie West). But in their own songs, they rock entirely in the present tense, with an attention to pop dynamics on their second album that often sounds more like recent Green Day than the Who in ’73.

“Sneak Out” opens with a great wrecking-ball riff, but the real action is the wily shifts in licks and meter, the way the band veers from a burglar’s creep to full throttle without trashing the tune. “Laughing in the Streets” is part Cheap Trick, part Fresh Cream (especially in Daniel’s fat, fluid runs), while the mix of Jacob’s Beatlesque vocals and Daniel’s howling sustain in “Altar Junkie” suggests Stevie Ray Vaughan gate-crashing Abbey Road. Rose Hill Drive are still writing classic rock as opposed to classic songs. They don’t have their own “Immigrant Song” yet. But they’ve got the learning — and the will. -Rolling Stone

with:
Colour Revolt || Listen
His Orchestra

9PM / $8 ADVANCE; $10 DAY OF SHOW / 21+

Friday 10.24.08: THE ACORN / THE SHAKY HANDS / OHBIJOU

The Acorn || Listen || Watch || Download

Ottawa based collective the Acorn dig on themes: their first record was a “tribute to the Outaouais region,” and now a few years on, their second full-length is based on the life of lead singer Rolf Klausener’s mother, Gloria Esperanza Montoya (hence titled Glory Hope Mountain). And as you’d expect from a band that writes about regions and moms, the music is subtly sweeping and agreeably melodic, or at least it is on the polyrhythmic road-traveler “Crooked Legs.” Maybe expectedly, there’s a big natural element at play with fireflies, gardens, and errant wandering on the table before the Acorn busts into a marimba ‘n’ horns-inflected groove. “I’m going as far as these crooked legs take me / I’m watching the road with two young eyes to guide me,” is Klausener’s optimistic ‘n’ weary credo in this cut, and for five minutes, it’s a story we believe. -Stereogum

with:
The Shaky Hands
Ohbijou || Listen

9PM / $8 ADVANCE; $10 DAY OF SHOW / 21+

Sunday 10.19.08: THE HIGH DIALS / THE QUARTER AFTER / THE SHORE

The High Dials || Watch

“Psych pop perfection”
8/10 – NME (UK)

“The golden era of Canadian cool continues apace”
The Sun (UK)

“(Songs) breathe new life into pops tired romantic lexicon”
4 stars – The Independent (UK)

“Dazzling second album”
4 stars – UNCUT

“An entire pop album of psychedelic superhits: instantly hummable, easily digestible, completely candy-coated and totally fucking sweet.”
20 best albums of 2005 – MAGNET

“The sound of a band discovering its soul and creating something beautiful and big… this album will blow you away”
4 ½ stars – ALL MUSIC GUIDE

“Their sunburst melodies sound arena-big”
Recommended – SPIN

with:
The Quarter After || Listen
The Shore

9PM / $8 / 21+

Saturday 10.18.08: 89.9 KCRW presents THE BOAT PEOPLE / THE OOHLAS / MINIATURE TIGERS

The Boat People || Listen || Watch

Whispy riffs and dreamy lyrics make for a light-hearted album that you can’t help but bop along with. This warm and fuzzy album is a long time in the making, with their first of three EPs being released in 2002, and their debut released in 2005, it seems that basking in all that northern sunshine over the past three years has created a release to warm the cockles of anyone’s heart.
If you love the jingle jangle of some well-arranged honest tunes, then you cannot go past this collection of fine tracks from The Boat People. Turn it on, turn it up, and get ready to smile your face off. -TuneFM

with:
The Oohlas
Miniature Tigers

9PM / $8 ADVANCE; $10 DAY OF SHOW / 21+

Friday 10.17.08: HEROINE SHEIKS / QUI / BARRIO TIGER

Heroine Sheiks || Listen || Watch

Shannon Selberg’s entirely reconfigured, revamped Heroine Sheiks have lab tested 11 brand new, fully assembled, tuned and torqued songs – not ideas for songs, not experimental keyboard games – but nothing shy of his finest body of work since the Cows seminal Sexy Pee Story, if not better. The new line-up subverts its four on the floor rock sensibilities, using active riffage and rhythm, but fucking it up just the right amount. Shannon’s vaudevillian creepshow has never been this well utilized, showing the amount of restraint and excess at the right times in exploring his menagerie of hard luck characters. Age and musical maturity have chiseled away the unnecessary parts of the persona, gone is the drawn-on mustache of shock and in its place the true five o’clock shadow of the narrative mindfuck. -Reptilian

with:
Qui
Barrio Tiger

9PM / $10 ADVANCE; $12 DAY OF SHOW / 21+

Saturday 10.04.08: Manimal Vinyl presents RIO EN MEDIO / VOICES VOICES / WEAVE! / EXITMUSIC

Rio En Medio || Watch

Danielle Stech Homsy (aka Rio en Medio), offers her music to the whims of chance. Citing influences such as John Cage and a childhood in which “peculiar circumstance and mysterious blessings were the norm,” she nearly overshadows her meticulously honed songcraft. While erratic electronics and found sounds dapple last year’s The Bride of Dynamite, Stech Homsy’s crisp, breezy voice and baritone ukulele give the flighty idiosyncrasies ground to stand on, should they choose to float back to earth. – Flavorpill

with:
Voices Voices
Weave!
Exitmusic

9PM / $8 / 21+

Wednesday 10.01.08: Indie 103 presents CLUB NME with PATTERN IS MOVEMENT / THE MINOR CANON / THE VOYEURS

Pattern Is Movement || Watch

Pattern’s music is gleefully fun at times, rivalling Pinback for sheer melodic exuberance even as it threatens wilful obscurity. Opener “Bird” switches to-and-fro between droning keyboards and sparkly twinkles, Thiboldeux’s vocals bordering all the while on the operatic, yet the song is contagious in both its energy and prettiness. “Right Away” is similarly double-edged, opening with a sense of brooding thunder that is periodically intercepted by the sunshine of Daniel Hart’s guesting violin and Thiboldeux’s keys, marching all the while to Ward’s head-nodding beat.

It’s this interplay between the many textures of Pattern’s music that makes All Together so captivating, and the uneducated would surely never guess the shrunken ranks of the band by listening alone. “Peach Trees” links together neat vocal harmonies and tip-toeing keyboard, but it’s the repeated violin excerpt that orchestrates proceedings. Guest musicians again come to the fore on “Sound of Your Voice”, where the insistent parping of trumpet induces an atmosphere of panic, before again Thiboldeux’s twinkling keys break the tension. Indeed, the interaction between All Together‘s instrumentation gives the impression of a larger outfit of seasoned musicians, all so well acquainted with each others’ strengths and weaknesses as to be entirely comfortable.

Each song is like a microcosmic journey, every one colourful and distinct. There’s the odd reference point here and there on All Together—there’s shades of Amnesiac-era Radiohead in the avant-pop atmosphere that pervades much of the album, while the more pastoral elements remind of Midlake at times—but Pattern Is Movement as a whole are utterly unique, something which is most definitely to their credit. – PopMatters

with:
The Minor Canon
The Voyeurs

plus DJs Dia, Jennifer, and Solid Todd spinning rock, indie, punk, electro & alternative. No Cover after Midnight.

8:30pm / $8 ADVANCE; $10 DAY OF SHOW / 21+

Monday 10.27.08: Monday Night Residency – KENAN BELL / THE MORNING BENDERS / WHITE ARROWS / ILO MAR

Kenan Bell || Listen || Watch

Kenan Bell, who was impressive at his release show back in March but still would be considered a work in progress, has seemingly exploded overnight with a band of familiar faces (Monsters Are Waiting, Dynamite Walls, and on this night Josh Klinghoffer and John Frusciante). Spaceland must have been pleased to see the band draw such a good midnight crowd — they’re scheduled to be the resident band in October.
- LA Underground

with:
The Morning Benders || Listen
White Arrows
Ilo Mar

9 pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 10.20.09: Monday Night Residency – KENAN BELL / DISTORTION FELIX / SOUTHERN ORACLE / NOT IN THE HOUSE

Kenan Bell || Listen || Watch

Kenan Bell, who was impressive at his release show back in March but still would be considered a work in progress, has seemingly exploded overnight with a band of familiar faces (Monsters Are Waiting, Dynamite Walls, and on this night Josh Klinghoffer and John Frusciante). Spaceland must have been pleased to see the band draw such a good midnight crowd — they’re scheduled to be the resident band in October.
- LA Underground

with:
Distortion Felix || Listen
Southern Oracle
Not In The House

9 pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 10.13.08: Monday Night Residency – KENAN BELL / RUMSPRINGA / 87 STICK UP KIDS / EL TEN ELEVEN

Kenan Bell || Listen || Watch

Kenan Bell, who was impressive at his release show back in March but still would be considered a work in progress, has seemingly exploded overnight with a band of familiar faces (Monsters Are Waiting, Dynamite Walls, and on this night Josh Klinghoffer and John Frusciante). Spaceland must have been pleased to see the band draw such a good midnight crowd — they’re scheduled to be the resident band in October.
- LA Underground

with:
Rumspringa
87 Stick Up Kids
El Ten Eleven || Listen

9 pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 10.06.08: Monday Night Residency – KENAN BELL / NOAH AND THE WHALE / LINDI ORTEGA

Kenan Bell || Listen || Watch

Kenan Bell, who was impressive at his release show back in March but still would be considered a work in progress, has seemingly exploded overnight with a band of familiar faces (Monsters Are Waiting, Dynamite Walls, and on this night Josh Klinghoffer and John Frusciante). Spaceland must have been pleased to see the band draw such a good midnight crowd — they’re scheduled to be the resident band in October.
- LA Underground

with:
Noah and the Whale
Lindi Ortega

9 pm / FREE / 21+

Friday 10.03.08: Indie 103 and Web in Front present THE HENRY CLAY PEOPLE (record release party) / THE PARSON RED HEADS / DOWNTOWN/UNION / LE SWITCH

The Henry Clay People (record release party) || Listen || Watch

The spasmodic sagacity of the Henry Clay People can be a little like watching somebody karaoke the encyclopedia, and the L.A. quartet’s spate of shows in late 2007 seemed to augur their rise to bigger stages. The prolific foursome is getting ready for a February residency at the Echo (batten down the fixtures) by putting the finishing touches on a new EP. With last year’s album “Blacklist the Kid With the Red Moustache” just making it into many local music collections, TCHP will have the five-song “Working Part Time” EP ready for the residency. The title track ought to be the anthem for every indie rocker who juggles a day job with being in a band. And, front man Joey Siara says, the band is writing and recording more new material. – LA Times Buzz Bands

with:
The Parson Redheads || Listen
Downtown/Union
Le Switch || Listen

9PM / $8 / 21+

Thursday 10.16.08: Filter & KXLU present BORN RUFFIANS / PLANTS AND ANIMALS / NURSES

Born Ruffians || Listen || Watch

Born Ruffians is on the up and up. The young Toronto band has mostly charmed critics with its two EPs to date, but guess what? Get past Luke Lalonde’s reedy voice and the yelping singalong tendencies in backing vocals and it’s clear the group is onto something: their debut album Red, Yellow and Blue is a consistent, and consistently unexpected, pleasure.

If you took Vampire Weekend’s melodic sensibility (the clean, simple melody and bass lines), threw in a serving of Animal Collective’s late-period experimental pop joy, and laid something like Alec Ounsworth’s pointed voice over the top, you might end up approaching something like Born Ruffians’ sound. What’s most apparent on their debut is the middle bit. It’s 40 minutes of joy, with few breaks. When Lalonde sings, on the opening “Red, Yellow and Blue”, that on the flag for his own country he’d include “Blue, because I’d still have sad days”, you never quite believe it. – Popmatters

with:
Plants and Animals || Listen
Nurses || Listen

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Humming Bird to 467467

8:30 pm / $10 advance; $12 day of show / 21+

Wednesday 10.15.08: Indie 103 presents CLUB NME with THE RUMBLE STRIPS / BIRDMONSTER / THE FRANKS

The Rumble Strips || Listen || Watch

The Rumble Strips’ music sounds lifted from an era when seven-inch singles were the norm and post-punk British bands approximated old soul records using a limited skill set. Those R&B-inspired rock tunes sounded just wrong enough to emerge as something new and very right.Singer-songwriter Charlie Waller evokes the passionate yowl of XTC’s Andy Partridge and Dexys Midnight Runners’ Kevin Rowland, and he sings of the usual stuff: Girls and Weather, as The Rumble Strips’ debut CD title indicates. As Waller fights the urge to join the rat race with the aid of a manically strummed guitar, sax-and-trumpet blasts animatedly back up his decision to lay low. If the English band sounds slightly tipsy, that may well be because it is. Raw skills, however, can’t hide the witty, warm and inviting soul in The Rumble Strips’ songs. – NPR

with:

Birdmonster || Listen
The Franks || Listen

Dewar’s drink specials: $3 before midnight, $1 after midnight

Resident DJs Dia and guests spinning. No cover after midnight.

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Cowboy to 467467

9pm / $10 advance; $12 day of show / 21+

Thursday 10.09.08: Clean Air Clean Stars kickoff party with THE BLACK ANGELS / SKY PARADE / HOPEWELL / SWOON 23

The Black Angels || Listen

Local tripsters the Black Angels bring the aura of mid-1966 – the drilling guitars of early Velvet Underground shows, the raga inflections of late-show Fillmore jams, the acid-prayer stomp of Austin avatars the 13th Floor Elevators – everywhere they go, including the levitations on their second album, Directions to See a Ghost (Light in the Attic). Mid-Eighties echoes of Spacemen 3 and the Jesus and Mary Chain also roll through the scoured-guitar sustain and Alex Maas’ rocker-monk incantations. But he knows what time it is. “You say the Beatles stopped the war,” Maas sings in “Never/Ever.” “They might’ve helped to find a cure/But it’s not over.” Even so, this medicine works wonders. – Rolling Stone

with:
Sky Parade || Listen
Hopewell
Swoon 23
Very Special Guests
DJ Kelsey “Short-Shorts” spinning

Tickets for the Pre-Party at Spaceland:

You can also buy tickets for the Clean Air Clean Stars Festival right here: