Friday 03.06.09: OLIVER FUTURE / DIRTY SWEET / HE’S MY BROTHER, SHE’S MY SISTER

Oliver Future || Listen

Nothing sums up the essence of Oliver Future, and perhaps their mixed feelings about L.A., than the back to back dazzlers that close this suite. “Drowning Parade” is a soulful ballad that could be an Antony and the Johnsons outtake, with its smoky-lounge vocals, alto and tenor saxophones, and Wurlitzer piano. The gentle tune gives way to “The Slow Fast,” filled with scraping guitar riffs, techno beats, and punk rock screams “It’s a-a-a-l-l… o-o-o-n-n.” This record is on alright: on point, and on its way to being one the better surprise releases of the year. To hear for yourself, simply do what I did and put Pax Futura on the stereo. – Lost At Sea

With:
Dirty Sweet || Listen
He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister

8:30pm / $8 / 21+

Wednesday 03.11.09: Club NME with SPIRIT ANIMAL / ASA RANSOM

Spirit Animal

Spirit Animal makes soul music from Dance Angeles. Its core members have recorded and performed with The Pharcyde and Ben Harper. Combined, the four founding fathers have opened for major acts such as The Roots, M.I.A. and the Beastie Boys. The band’s catchy, meaningful songs and raucous live shows have sparked an explosive following of young, old, hip and humble. Their in-progress, debut full-length, The Cost of Living, features selected tracks mixed by Danny Kalb (Beck, Rilo Kiley, Jack Johnson), and showcases vintage synth wizardry, horn and string sections both punchy and grand, and swaths of vocal harmony — a soundscape that skillfully beckons classic and contemporary influences at once. Spirit Animal’s Internet-ready EP of cover songs, Covers I (out this Spring), will provide a brief introduction to the musical possibilities that lie ahead as they reinvent notable numbers from Beirut, Ginuwine, Alphaville and Sheila Hylton.

with:
Asa Ransom

8:30pm / $8 / 21+

Thursday 03.05.09: USELESS KEYS / TSK TSK / COBALT CRANES / DISSOLVER

Useless Keys || Listen || Watch

With a name like Useless Keys, one might be tempted to dismiss them as another one of those bands that isn’t opening any new doors. This is not the case with Useless Keys, the new project of former Front frontman Michael Bauer with Rory Modica, Guylaine Vivarat (ex-Molecules) and Michael Regilio (ex-Green and Yellow TV). Discovering this upstart quartet is like discovering one of those really cool old-timey keys- you know, the really long ones with the two teeth-that you might hold on to because of a weird feeling that maybe it someday might unlock something mysterious. In just three songs, Useless Keys’ self-titled debut EP showcases a short but sweet mish-mosh of sixties melodies and modern rhythms, droney guitars and sweet vocals and delivers a few unexpected surprises. The disc starts strong with a disturbed Ray Davies-style melody on “Down Threw” and “White Noise” manages to resurrect the power of 90′s-style climbing guitar riffs in a way that actually works when mixed up with dark undercurrents that seem to be the band’s signature. And–and this is something I hadn’t thought possible– the Floydian guitar solo in “It’s All Made Up” actually doesn’t sound cheesy. From the looks of things, Useless Keys are worth keeping around. – LA Record

with:
Tsk Tsk || Listen
Cobalt Cranes
Dissolver

8:30pm / $5 / 21+

Sunday 03.01.09: NICK JAGO / THE ATLANTIC / DAVID SHANE SMITH / JESSICA JAY

Nick Jago

Nick Jago was born on July 19, 1976, in Abadan, Iran. He is of British and Peruvian origin. His father is from England and his mother is from Peru. Growing up in Iran, Peru, Argentina, Venezuela, and England, he eventually left England to be with his family after they relocated to California in 1996. Prior to his leaving, Nick studied Fine Arts at Winchester School Of Art, hoping to become a painter.

After meeting Peter Hayes and Robert Been upon his arrival in the States, Nick switched his focus from painting to music, helping form the later internationally successful band, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. As the drummer for the band, Nick toured around the world for several years after B.R.M.C. left the San Francisco Bay Area for Los Angeles all to quickly attract the interest of a few record labels. The band later went on to tour with a collection of high profile musicians such as the members of U2, The Rolling Stones, and Neil Young.

In 2007, Nick started his own musical project. He is exploring moods, styles, eras and cultures.

with:
The Atlantic
David Shane Smith
Jessica Jay

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 05.30.09: LANGHORNE SLIM / SAMANTHA CRAIN / THE 1921A / SAM LOWRY

Langhorne Slim || Watch

An unconventional folk and blues singer from Brooklyn (by way of Pennsylvania), Langhorne Slim skillfully infuses his rootsy songs with elements of bluegrass, rock, and country music.

Once known as Sean Scolnick, Slim has got his start touring as a popular opener for the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players. A handful of independent releases followed, but Slim’s ascent has begun in earnest with the release of a new, self-titled CD. The disc nicely blends simplicity and eccentricity, reflecting his live-wire stage act. – NPR

With:
Samantha Crain || Listen
Sam Lowry
The 1921A

8:30pm / $12 advance; $14 day of show / 21+

Sunday 05.03.09: DAMIEN JURADO / LAURA GIBSON / THE CORAL SEA / REY VILLALOBOS

Damien Jurado || Listen

Jurado’s way with words, the manner in which he wraps his tales so magnificently around barely-there music that touches you – me – in such a strong way that it’s impossible to feel anything but moved by the experience, is exquisite. His cadence is perfect, his tone a perfect conductor of feeling regardless of the precise words that swim within it. His not-so-bothered singing voice, which can be mistaken for deliberate deadpan on occasions, belies the true soul within these compositions, within the man behind the microphone. – Drowned in Sound

with:
Laura Gibson
The Coral Sea || Listen
Rey Villalobos

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

Wednesday 04.01.09: Club NME with WHITE DENIM / THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART / THE MUSICAL DIFFERENCES

White Denim || Listen

With their EPs, Austin’s White Denim have built buzz as the next heroes of fuzzed-out psychedelic power blues in the style of the White Stripes and the Black Keys. But while “All You Really Have to Do” and “Shake Shake Shake” support that rep, their debut full-length shows a more versatile outfit. “Don’t Look That Way at It” mixes looped guitar swarms, wordless chants and off-kilter grooves. “Wda” is a gear-shifting jam that echoes golden-era Pavement. And “All Truckers Roll” is a woozy road anthem with banjo, raga-rock drones and time-signature kookiness that points to drummer Josh Block’s jazz roots. Where they go from here is anyone’s guess. – Rolling Stone

with:
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart || Listen
The Musical Differences || Listen

8:30pm / $10 advance, $12 Day Of Show / 21+

Sunday 03.08.09: CURUMIN plus special guest MONEY MARK / LOS PIRATA / MUSAICS

Curumin || Watch

Named after a Brazilian word for “indigenous children,” hailing from Spanish and Japanese ancestry, and rhyming and scheming in Portuguese, Luciano Nakata Albuquerque has dazzled since his 2005 hybrid-funk debut “Achados e Perdidos” dropped with the help of Blackalicious’ Chief Xcel. That DJ evidently liked what he heard, and bankrolled this sophomore effort, which is easily one of hip-hop’s finest releases of 2008. That is, if you consider a mash of samba, funk, soul, rap, jazz and bossa nova to be hip-hop. “Japan Pop Show” displays skill on every level. The dance-floor grind of “Magrela Fever” might be the best club banger of the year. The title track is a psychedelic recombination of David Axelrod and Os Mutantes’ funky genes, and the subtle spacetracking of “Mistério Stereo” is as accessible for indie heads as it is for soul old-schoolers. Curumin’s classical training on percussion and keyboards has paid off heavily, especially on the instrumental groove of “Fu Manchu” and jazz and dub explorations of “Salto No Vácuo Com Joelhada” and “Saída Bangú.” It is, literally, all good. – Metromix LA

plus special guest Money Mark

with:
Los Pirata || Listen
Musaics

8:30pm / $10 advance, $12 Day Of Show / 21+

Friday 03.06.09: First Fridays with FOOLS GOLD / BLK JKS @ Natural History Museum

This season’s First Fridays celebrate “Darwin Year” through entertaining and fascinating conversations with six of the world’s foremost authors and experts on the life of Darwin, the science of evolution, and the revolutionary impact of the man and his work. Join us in discovery with an evening of programming: a curator-led tour, a discussion forum with Dr. Neil Shubin and Dr. Michael W. Quick, artist performances Fool’s Gold and Blk Jks and a DJ lounge with The Phatal DJ + Anthony Valadez (dublab.com)

with:
Fools Gold
Blk Jks || Listen

plus DJs:
The Phatal DJ
Anthony Valadez

@ Natural History Museum
900 Exposition Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90007

FMI: http://www.nhm.org/firstfridays/

5:30pm / All Ages

Sunday 04.26.09: NEIL HAMBURGER / ANDY KINDLER / SCOTT AUKERMAN & BJ PORTER / LAUNDRY BASKET AND SPIEGELMAN / AMERICAN SHERIFF

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:
Andy Kindler
Scott Aukerman & BJ Porter (from “Mr. Show”)
Laundry Basket & Spiegelman
American Sheriff

8:30pm / $8 / 21+

Monday 04.20.09: THE HENRY CLAY PEOPLE / THE WHIP / ADELINE AND THE PHILISTINES / MARVELOUS TOY

The Henry Clay People || Listen || Watch

With it’s footstomping gee-tar anthems and wistful golden streaks of pedal steel throughout, the Henry Clay People’s second LP, For Cheap or for Free, is an alternately witty and ferocious, touching and rebellious record, a song-cycle of twenty-something ennui set to crackling and electric music just as likely to encourage surging blood-alcohol limits as the lyrics do a smirking introspection that never takes itself too seriously.

Unlike their solidly catchy and thoroughly indie’s debut, Blacklist the Kid with the Red Moustache, the People’s new record jumbles, blurs and builds upon its influences—a vivid cross-section that acknowledges a mindset where Tonight’s the Night, The River, GP and Grievous Angel, Tim, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, or any record produced by Glynn or Andy Johns all share shelf space—so much so that while the styles may sound/feel familiar, the results they produce add up to one of 2008’s most enjoyable (and simply fun) late night rock ‘n roll records. You might be able to hear where the Henry Clay People are coming from, but the viscerally freewheeling music forces you to be more compelled by where they’re going—they haven’t reinvented the wheel, they’ve just started rolling it in a new and exciting direction. – Web In Front

The Whip
Adeline & The Philistines
Marvelous Toy || Listen

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 04.27.09: THE HENRY CLAY PEOPLE / YOUNG LOVE / FLYING TOURBILLON ORCHESTRA / SWIM PARTY / DJ MARK SOVEL

The Henry Clay People || Listen

This LA band’s 2nd album is a remarkable set of classic-sounding indie-rock with clear echoes of Pavement, the Hold Steady, the Replacements and early Built to Spill, but they find their own voice with detailed songs that split the difference between sardonic and heartfelt when describing the music scene, living in debt and working part-time, transforming everyday subject matter into raging, celebratory anthems for slacker rock ‘n’ rollers and other folks just trying to make ends meet. – KEXP

with:
Young Love
Flying Tourbillon Orchestra || Listen
Swim Party || Listen
DJ Mark Sovel

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 04.13.09: THE HENRY CLAY PEOPLE / THE BROKEN WEST / THE WORLD RECORD / WRITER

The Henry Clay People || Listen || Watch

With it’s footstomping gee-tar anthems and wistful golden streaks of pedal steel throughout, the Henry Clay People’s second LP, For Cheap or for Free, is an alternately witty and ferocious, touching and rebellious record, a song-cycle of twenty-something ennui set to crackling and electric music just as likely to encourage surging blood-alcohol limits as the lyrics do a smirking introspection that never takes itself too seriously.

Unlike their solidly catchy and thoroughly indie’s debut, Blacklist the Kid with the Red Moustache, the People’s new record jumbles, blurs and builds upon its influences—a vivid cross-section that acknowledges a mindset where Tonight’s the Night, The River, GP and Grievous Angel, Tim, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, or any record produced by Glynn or Andy Johns all share shelf space—so much so that while the styles may sound/feel familiar, the results they produce add up to one of 2008’s most enjoyable (and simply fun) late night rock ‘n roll records. You might be able to hear where the Henry Clay People are coming from, but the viscerally freewheeling music forces you to be more compelled by where they’re going—they haven’t reinvented the wheel, they’ve just started rolling it in a new and exciting direction. – Web In Front

with:
The Broken West || Listen
The World Record || Listen
Writer || Listen
8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 04.06.09: THE HENRY CLAY PEOPLE / MIKE WATT & THE MISSINGMEN / READY THE JET / THEE MIGHTY ANGELS

The Henry Clay People || Listen || Watch

With it’s footstomping gee-tar anthems and wistful golden streaks of pedal steel throughout, the Henry Clay People’s second LP, For Cheap or for Free, is an alternately witty and ferocious, touching and rebellious record, a song-cycle of twenty-something ennui set to crackling and electric music just as likely to encourage surging blood-alcohol limits as the lyrics do a smirking introspection that never takes itself too seriously.

Unlike their solidly catchy and thoroughly indie’s debut, Blacklist the Kid with the Red Moustache, the People’s new record jumbles, blurs and builds upon its influences—a vivid cross-section that acknowledges a mindset where Tonight’s the Night, The River, GP and Grievous Angel, Tim, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, or any record produced by Glynn or Andy Johns all share shelf space—so much so that while the styles may sound/feel familiar, the results they produce add up to one of 2008’s most enjoyable (and simply fun) late night rock ‘n roll records. You might be able to hear where the Henry Clay People are coming from, but the viscerally freewheeling music forces you to be more compelled by where they’re going—they haven’t reinvented the wheel, they’ve just started rolling it in a new and exciting direction. – Web In Front

with:
Mike Watt & The Missingmen || Listen
Ready the Jet
Thee Mighty Angels

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Friday 05.22.09: Filter presents OBITS / THE LIGHTS / TIJUANA PANTHERS

Obits || Listen

It’s post post-Hot Snakes mania these days! Fresh on the heels of John Reis’ (guitar genius of Hot Snakes) new band, The Night Marchers, comes Rick Froberg (singer/guitar genius of Hot Snakes) back into the fray. Obits is Froberg’s “new” band, but they’re not really new considering they’ve been practicing in secret since Hot Snakes’ 2005 demise.

Obits just played their first ever show at The Cake Shop in NYC in January of 2008. They were the openers and packed out the venue like no other opener could. It was a hot and steamy mess as the fans clamored for more of Froberg’s (and his three cohorts, including one from Edsel) famously tight punk anthems of rhythm. The show is already somewhat legendary and you can find a bootleg recording of it with just a little help from Google.

So what does Obits sound like? Kind of like Hot Snakes meets Drive Like Jehu meets Pitchfork meets some classic rock and blues. Phew! – Oh My Rockness

with:
The Lights
Tijuana Panthers

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

Saturday 04.11.09: BLIND PILOT / LOCH LOMOND / THE F SCOTT BAND

Blind Pilot || Listen

Blind Pilot is the musical project of Portland, Ore. natives Ryan Dobrowski and Israel Nebeker. The two recorded their debut album, 3 Rounds and a Sound, after completing a tour that took them from Vancouver all the way to San Francisco — by bike. Nebeker says the group now plays as a nine-piece collective, but you would never know it from listening to 3 Rounds. The group offers a minimalist folk sound built on Nebeker’s simple acoustic guitar and Dobrowski’s sparse drumming. It’s perhaps an appropriate soundtrack to the duo’s environmentally conscious touring style.

“When I wrote most of 3 Rounds and a Sound, I was listening to a whole lot of Neutral Milk Hotel and Joanna Newsom,” Nebeker says. The influence is clear. While Blind Pilot might not be lo-fi enough to be considered acid-folk, sonically you can’t help but notice nods to Jeff Mangum and company. The record’s opening track, “Oviedo,” features an accordion drone accompanying Nebeker’s doubled vocals, but with orchestration that never takes away from the group’s simple, singer-songwriter folk sound. – NPR Music

With:
Loch Lomond || Listen
The F Scott Band || Listen

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

Thursday 04.09.09: SPINDRIFT / RESTAURANT / WHISPERING PINES / NEW YORK RIFLES

Spindrift || Listen

Truly out-of-sight, the seven-piece band celebrates the outlaw spirit with spooky, tripped-out variations on Ennio Morricone’s spaghetti Western tradition. Live, they swirl and tremble like a lucid dream, banging a gong and shaking their tambourines for rattlesnake effect, jamming until the audience feels engulfed by a sandstorm (of course, it helps if it’s an outdoor concert and the wind is already fierce). Spindrift founder Kirpatrick Thomas (who holds together portions of the band’s East and West Coast factions) recently recorded a soundtrack to Mike Bruce’s bizarre concept film Legend of God’s Gun, which is like the original Ocean’s 11 with psychedelic rockers replacing tony rat packers. Visually schizophrenic, Gun follows a preacher turned gunslinger who travels to Playa Diablo to avenge his true love’s death. Trippy shoot-’em-ups ensue. Go west! – Salt Lake City Weekly

with:
Restaurant || Listen
Whispering Pines
New York Rifles || Listen

8:30pm / $8 / 21+

Wednesday 03.25.09: Club NME with NO KIDS / PARENTHETICAL GIRLS / BLACK GOLD

No Kids

Deceptively monikered, No Kids are actually pretty much down with them. Though their geeky attire on the press material paints their three members (each formerly a quarter of indie-pop foursome P:ano) as studious schoolteachers, less than ten minutes into this, their debut, they extend an unexpected olive branch to modern day R&B. And as the typical plucked-string melody and salty croon of “The Beaches All Closed” continues into “Bluster in the Air” and beyond, there’s refreshingly few tongues in cheeks, the tone appreciative, if playful, rather than ironic.

But this organic, skewed representation of a genre that characteristically—in the mainstream at least—covets the bling and the brash, by people who patently don’t, is just one facet of Come Into My House‘s diverse, but steadfastly natural, sound. Opener “Great Escape” is a laid-back, piano-led affair, lent sheen by the discourse of mingling brass and string sections, while “For Halloween” sees No Kids’ trio of multi-instrumentalists defy the autumnal implications of its title with inappropriately sunny melodies and incandescent vocal harmonies. – Popmatters

with:
Parenthetical Girls || Listen
Black Gold

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

Saturday 03.07.09: THE UPPER CRUST / PEACHFUZZ / BARRIO TIGER

The Upper Crust || Listen

With:
Peachfuzz
Barrio Tiger

8:30pm / $12 advance, $14 day of show / 21+

Wednesday 03.04.09: Club NME with PRINCETON / CUT OFF YOUR HANDS

Princeton || Listen

They may have an Ivy-bred name, but Eagle Rock, CA’s Princeton are more concerned with chamber-pop than condescension. Comprised of brothers Jesse and Matt Kivel, plus longtime pal Ben Usen, Princeton combine the Glaswegian gloom of Tigermilk-era Belle and Sebastian with sublime orchestration and Vampire Weekend’s bouncy, lilting rhythmic structures to formulate a sound that will send listeners off to a regal pop Valhalla. Check out the fluttering woodwinds and galloping melody of “Ms. Bentwich.” – Spin.com

with:
Cut Off Your Hands || Listen

8:30pm / $8 / 21+

Tuesday 03.03.09: LAURA GIBSON / TOM BROSSEAU / MUSEE MECANIQUE

Laura Gibson || Watch || MP3

Laura Gibson’s new album, Beasts of Seasons, is nothing short of a masterpiece, both for its flawless and often haunting execution and for its inspired statements on the human experience. Broken into two parts, “Communion Songs” and “Funeral Songs,” the album opens with a foreboding burst of feedback and static. If it’s the sonic equivalent of darkness and what may be lurking there, then Gibson’s fragile voice and plaintively strummed guitar soon emerge as a flicker of light. It’s a mesmerizing contrast, as the curtain rises for Gibson’s beautifully gloomy and arresting meditations on life and death. – NPR

With:
Tom Brosseau || Listen
Musee Mecanique

8:30pm / $8 / 21+

Tuesday 04.28.09: BOB LOG III / WILLEM MAKER / STEPHEN BROWER & THE SILENT MAJORITY

Bob Log III

“When I turned 11 I got my first AC/DC record and that’s when I stopped putting the guitar down, let’s put it that way. I’m 33 now, my guitar playing’s 22. That means last year it became old enough to drink in America,” laughs the patently indescribable one-man-band Bob Log III. The Tucson-based Log has just lobbed Log Bomb, his latest bundle of bluesy, boozey and breast-obsessed mayhem, into an unsuspecting world. His is a baffling but playful mix of talent and novelty, truth and fiction. Accompanied only by his guitar (played with one human hand and one fabled “monkey paw,” allegedly transplanted onto his arm after a boating accident), he offers an almost ridiculous but somehow compelling musical ride, fuelled as much by his love of the guitar as his “appreciation” of the fairer sex. To truly understand the phenomenon that is Log, one must attend one of his live shows, slightly surreal, must be seen-to-be-believed experiences where Log plays the guitar like the salvation of his soul depends on it, his face hidden under a requisite helmet. Log claims the helmet serves the dual purposes of housing a mic for his vocals (“If I fall over I can still play guitar and sing,” he explains) and obscuring his face form the girl he’s hiding from (It’s like a security barricade”). – Uptown

With:
Willem Maker || Listen
Stephen Brower & the Silent Majority || Watch

8:30pm / $10 advance, $12 Day of Show / 21+

Tuesday 03.24.09: SPINTO BAND / MAPS & ATLASES / LIGHT FM

The Spinto Band || Listen || Watch

With an obvious love of Brit pop, a weakness for ecstatic vocal harmonies and a stimulant-fueled disposition, the six young men twitched, leaped and hurled themselves through a thoroughly entertaining and nearly non-stop set. These boys have played together for a long time, and the practice showed last night in the tight starts and stops and seamless transitions between songs. The band even played a note-perfect instrumental cover of “Genius of Love” as an introduction to one of their originals.

But it was the energy and obvious sense of fun with which the Spinto Band attacked its songs that made the performance so engaging. Dueling frontmen Nick Krill and Thomas Hughes each brought his own unique and quirky personality to the stage. While the lanky Krill ran in place and flopped his hair back and forth, the cartoonish Hughes spasmed with the high notes and donned a clothes-hanger apparatus that allowed him to play his kazoo (yep) hands-free. This was another performance that was so strong and just plain fun that I’ll have to go back to check out the record again (2005’s Nice and Nicely Done was the band’s first widely distributed disc, but its seventh overall). – Westword

With:
Maps & Atlases || Listen
Light FM

8:30pm / $10 Advance, $12 Day Of Show / 21+

Monday 03.30.09: Flaunt Magazine presents Monday Night Residency – NICO STAI / THE GRATES / TIM JAMES

Nico Stai || Watch || MP3

What is in a name, like the one possessed by Nico Stai? Nico is an L.A. based musician and his new release, his 3rd in all, The Victory Of Miss Friday is his most decisive to date. The trappings of creating records has not affected Nico as it is apparent on his newest creation. The music is entrapping, grabbing your brain cells and lulling you into a beautiful stupor. Bob Dylan, you have company now …., someone who can create a stunningly simple acoustic piece and reign in a legion of fans, but with consumer friendly smooth vocals. The music on The Victory Of Miss Friday has engaging rhythms like with in the track “Scream,” which has ensnaring vocals of the pleasant and hypnotic gesture along with driving acoustic rhythms and above all, horns. Any artist that incorporates horns into their music is my hero. “The Skies Over Your Head” offers something different, a strumming bass line behind the acoustic guitar with Nico’s urging vocals lying overhead. Dead Pony was an advancement for Nico but this is the just deserts. Stunning acoustic movements with frantic moments here and there are Nico’s calling card. Go check them out and make Nico Stai your next musical love. Check him out this March for his Monday night residency at Spaceland. -Jeffrey Easton

With:
The Grates || Listen
Tim James (from The Movies)

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 03.23.09: Monday Night Residency – NICO STAI / THE TEMPER TRAP / OH LAND / ROSIE AND THE GOLDBUG

Nico Stai || Watch || MP3

What is in a name, like the one possessed by Nico Stai? Nico is an L.A. based musician and his new release, his 3rd in all, The Victory Of Miss Friday is his most decisive to date. The trappings of creating records has not affected Nico as it is apparent on his newest creation. The music is entrapping, grabbing your brain cells and lulling you into a beautiful stupor. Bob Dylan, you have company now …., someone who can create a stunningly simple acoustic piece and reign in a legion of fans, but with consumer friendly smooth vocals. The music on The Victory Of Miss Friday has engaging rhythms like with in the track “Scream,” which has ensnaring vocals of the pleasant and hypnotic gesture along with driving acoustic rhythms and above all, horns. Any artist that incorporates horns into their music is my hero. “The Skies Over Your Head” offers something different, a strumming bass line behind the acoustic guitar with Nico’s urging vocals lying overhead. Dead Pony was an advancement for Nico but this is the just deserts. Stunning acoustic movements with frantic moments here and there are Nico’s calling card. Go check them out and make Nico Stai your next musical love. Check him out this March at for his Monday night residency at Spaceland. -Jeffrey Easton

With:
The Temper Trap
Rosie and the Goldbug || Listen
Oh Land

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 03.16.09: Monday Night Residency – NICO STAI / YOUTH GROUP / RED RIDERS / JOSH PYKE

Nico Stai || Watch || MP3

What is in a name, like the one possessed by Nico Stai? Nico is an L.A. based musician and his new release, his 3rd in all, The Victory Of Miss Friday is his most decisive to date. The trappings of creating records has not affected Nico as it is apparent on his newest creation. The music is entrapping, grabbing your brain cells and lulling you into a beautiful stupor. Bob Dylan, you have company now …., someone who can create a stunningly simple acoustic piece and reign in a legion of fans, but with consumer friendly smooth vocals. The music on The Victory Of Miss Friday has engaging rhythms like with in the track “Scream,” which has ensnaring vocals of the pleasant and hypnotic gesture along with driving acoustic rhythms and above all, horns. Any artist that incorporates horns into their music is my hero. “The Skies Over Your Head” offers something different, a strumming bass line behind the acoustic guitar with Nico’s urging vocals lying overhead. Dead Pony was an advancement for Nico but this is the just deserts. Stunning acoustic movements with frantic moments here and there are Nico’s calling card. Go check them out and make Nico Stai your next musical love. Check him out this March at for his Monday night residency at Spaceland. -Jeffrey Easton

With:
Youth Group || Listen
Red Riders || Listen
Josh Pyke || Listen

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 03.09.09: Monday Night Residency – NICO STAI / THE SHYS / LADY SINATRA

Nico Stai || Watch || MP3

What is in a name, like the one possessed by Nico Stai? Nico is an L.A. based musician and his new release, his 3rd in all, The Victory Of Miss Friday is his most decisive to date. The trappings of creating records has not affected Nico as it is apparent on his newest creation. The music is entrapping, grabbing your brain cells and lulling you into a beautiful stupor. Bob Dylan, you have company now …., someone who can create a stunningly simple acoustic piece and reign in a legion of fans, but with consumer friendly smooth vocals. The music on The Victory Of Miss Friday has engaging rhythms like with in the track “Scream,” which has ensnaring vocals of the pleasant and hypnotic gesture along with driving acoustic rhythms and above all, horns. Any artist that incorporates horns into their music is my hero. “The Skies Over Your Head” offers something different, a strumming bass line behind the acoustic guitar with Nico’s urging vocals lying overhead. Dead Pony was an advancement for Nico but this is the just deserts. Stunning acoustic movements with frantic moments here and there are Nico’s calling card. Go check them out and make Nico Stai your next musical love. Check him out this March at for his Monday night residency at Spaceland. -Jeffrey Easton

With:
The Shys
Lady Sinatra

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 03.02.09: Monday Night Residency – NICO STAI / EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS / POP NOIR / HESTA PRYNN

Nico Stai || Watch || MP3

What is in a name, like the one possessed by Nico Stai? Nico is an L.A. based musician and his new release, his 3rd in all, The Victory Of Miss Friday is his most decisive to date. The trappings of creating records has not affected Nico as it is apparent on his newest creation. The music is entrapping, grabbing your brain cells and lulling you into a beautiful stupor. Bob Dylan, you have company now …., someone who can create a stunningly simple acoustic piece and reign in a legion of fans, but with consumer friendly smooth vocals. The music on The Victory Of Miss Friday has engaging rhythms like with in the track “Scream,” which has ensnaring vocals of the pleasant and hypnotic gesture along with driving acoustic rhythms and above all, horns. Any artist that incorporates horns into their music is my hero. “The Skies Over Your Head” offers something different, a strumming bass line behind the acoustic guitar with Nico’s urging vocals lying overhead. Dead Pony was an advancement for Nico but this is the just deserts. Stunning acoustic movements with frantic moments here and there are Nico’s calling card. Go check them out and make Nico Stai your next musical love. Check him out this March at for his Monday night residency at Spaceland. -Jeffrey Easton

With:
Eastern Conference Champions || Listen
Pop Noir || Listen
Hesta Prynn

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Thursday 03.12.09: CURSIVE / MODERN MEMORY

Cursive || Listen

Kasher’s ‘other’ project The Good Life – it can hardly be considered a side-project considering its success – has become the key outlet, now, for the singer’s more emotional histrionics, leaving Cursive to rock once more. While it’s true that Happy Hollow is characterised by intelligent lyrics, occasionally stemming from matters of the heart, its conceptual framework is much grander than anything released by the band’s alleged emo peers. Stories are told and intertwined from song to song, with religion and politics bobbing about in Kasher’s rifle eyes. Each takes a flurry of verbal bullets, yet ambiguity surrounds every tongue lashing. – Drowned in Sound

with:
Modern Memory || Listen

8:30pm / $15 advance, $18 Day of show / 21+

Friday 02.06.09: First Fridays with THE BIRD AND THE BEE / JUKEBOX THE GHOST @ Natural History Museum

This season’s First Fridays celebrate “Darwin Year” through entertaining and fascinating conversations with six of the world’s foremost authors and experts on the life of Darwin, the science of evolution, and the revolutionary impact of the man and his work. Join us in discovery with an evening of programming: a curator-led tour, a discussion forum with Dr. Donald R. Prothero and Dr. Michael W. Quick, artist performances The Bird and the Bee and Jukebox The Ghost and a DJ lounge with The Phatal DJ + DJ Michael Stock (dublab.com)

with:
The Bird & The Bee
Jukebox The Ghost

plus DJs:
The Phatal DJ
DJ Michael Stock

@ Natural History Museum
900 Exposition Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90007

FMI: http://www.nhm.org/firstfridays/

5:30pm / All Ages

Friday 02.27.09: Rock Paper Scissors Pre-Party with MIKE WATT & THE SECONDMEN / LEE RANALDO / THE NICHEMAKERS / THE ELECTRIC ILLUMINATI / THE HOOTENANNY ALL-STARS

Preparty for Rock, Paper, Scissor exhibition at the Robert Berman Gallery

Featuring:
Mike Watt+thesecondmen
Lee Ranaldo (sonic youth)
The NicheMakers (feat. Raymond Pettibon)
Ron English’s Electric Illuminati

with opening hootenanny by
Old War Shirt
M.S. Garvey’s Buspoems
Slings
Famous Bob Rokos

About the Art Exhibition:

R O C K P A P E R S C I S S O R
featuring Raymond Pettibon, Daniel Johnston, Ron English, Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo & Gibby Haynes
Curated by Jon Cournoyer
ROBERT BERMAN GALLERY, February 28 – March 21, 2009
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 28th, 6:30-9:30pm with DJ Shepard Fairey
RSVP to rsvp@robertbermangallery.com

Robert Berman Gallery is pleased to present the group exhibition Rock, Paper, Scissor on view February 28 – March 21, 2009. The show will feature noteworthy artists who freely use, base imagery on, thrive, and excel in both the mediums of visual art and music. The artists taking part in the show are Raymond Pettibon, Daniel Johnston, Ron English, Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers and Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth.

This exhibition highlights these artists who in both the mediums of music and art have created a memorable and historical body of work and continue to do so. Born from outsider roots stemming from Los Angeles, New York and Texas, they blurred the boundaries of aural and visual expressions creating what would become a hallmark of material from the period of the 1980’s-1990’s, eventually being absorbed by both the mainstream public and art industries. It’s influences today are countless.

On exhibit will be paintings, drawings, collages, conceptual pieces and installations as well as ephemera including lyric sheets by Raymond Pettibon that have rarely been exhibited. Also a large collection or rare and early Daniel Johnston works, many of which have never been publicly exhibited, will also be on view from the collection of Don Goede, co-author along with Tarssa Yazdan of the definitive book on the artist Hi, How Are You?. These works will be published in the next edition of this book as well.

Being an art exhibit based on artists who also are musicians, a live performance is scheduled for the weekend of the opening reception to be hosted by the very well respected Santa Monica Museum of Art, which is located a few doors down from us at Bergamot Station. Raymond Pettibon and the NicheMakers and Ron English’s Electric Illuminati along with are scheduled to play.

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

Saturday 02.14.09: GIL MANTERA’S PARTY DREAM / BIBLICAL PROOF OF UFOS

Gil Mantera’s Party Dream || Listen || Watch

This is one of those left of center records that you might start off scratching your head over, but then find yourself completely in love with. Here we have another duo inspired by early ’80s synth-pop and danceable new wave. I might be dating myself here, but do you remember Q-Feel’s “Dancing In Heaven (Orbital Be-Bop)” from 1982? Well, take that track, throw in some squiggly vocoder effects a la Daft Punk, spritz it with some angular guitar solos, and you’ll arrive with a plus one for this Party Dream…All of this smile-inducing, Casio disco-punk brings to mind Devo meets Kraftwerk — on uppers. Wrapping this package with a nice bow is singer Ultimate Donny’s strong pipes, and he’s got one of those voices that reminds you of other people you can’t quite place. Apparently, their live shows feature over-the-top antics like burning their pubic hair, wrestling in spandex and donning fake moustaches. Somehow, that makes perfect sense. – IN Los Angeles Magazine

with:
Biblical Proof of UFOs || Listen

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

Saturday 02.28.09: FAUN FABLES / VOCO / NICOLE SIMONE

Faun Fables || Listen || Watch

The first installment in a planned series of releases about homemaking and how it affects our daily lives, A Table Forgotten is at once the least adventurous and most welcoming release in the Faun Fables discography. Where The Transit Rider (2006) felt otherworldly through and through, McCarthy’s chalky alto sounds completely at home among the rousing frame drums, tambourines and percussion of “With Words and Cake.”

Though the acoustic title track laments an empty table (“A place forgotten and moved around/ No one sits, they just drop things down/ Upon a table forgotten”), the song itself is full of life, with woozy theremin and violin tones from new member Meredith Yayanos and Frykdahl’s gruff harmony vocals. Here Faun Fables dusts the cobwebs off the twisted Eastern European cabaret tropes that Barbez and Devotchka have also explored.

“Winter Sleep,” co-written by Icelandic composer Valgeir Sigurdsson, opens up new avenues for the Faun Fables household — it’s a heavy folk song, a dark lullaby, all clanking bass lines and slow-build crescendos. By returning from the pagan vastlands to the familiar comforts of home, Faun Fables’ music has grown ever warmer, less willfully weird, better able to connect. – Prefix Mag

With:
Voco || Listen
Nicole Simone

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

Wednesday 02.25.09: CLUB NME w/ DEAD CONFEDERATE / TRANSFER / HEAVY YOUNG HEATHENS

Dead Confederate || Listen || Watch

Dead Confederate’s Wrecking Ball sounds like Bleach-era Nirvana covering My Morning Jacket. (That’s a good thing.) The Georgia band stirred up some buzz in January with its self-titled EP, a strained, aching redefinition of roots-rock that hinted at something bigger and better. Consider Wrecking Ball the fulfillment of that promise: Howling with impassioned anger about various bleak, gloomy subjects, Hardy Morris masters a musical tension that’s reminiscent of Kurt Cobain (especially on the pounding “Goner” and frantic “Start Me Laughing”), with undeniably catchy riffs surging through his band’s noise. And while the psychedelic, echoing alt-country guitar should appeal to early MMJ fans, Dead Confederate is considerably more baleful and abrasive. – The Onion AV Club

with:
Transfer
Heavy Young Heathens

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

Sunday 02.15.09: Valentine’s Zombie Prom w/ SAINT MOTEL / CRAFT CLUB / THE AIRLINES / HELLO VEGAS

Saint Motel || Listen || Watch

With the addition of smoke and soft lighting, Saint Motel had turned the Viper Room into a forest glen at twilight. As they emerged from the mists, the band members dressed the part of young princes in matching white button-down shirts and jeans. I almost expected a white steed to show up half-way through the show. As soon as the music started, though, it was clear: handsome faces and whimsical trappings aside—these boys could rock.

Jackson, who resembles a young Alex Kapranos, wooed the crowd with a warm and comforting voice, projecting an earnestness to melt any cynic’s heart. Jackson was backed up by his wild-man guitarist, A. Sharp, who howled mercilessly on his guitar while shamelessly flirting with the crowd; and, giving balance to the universe, bassist Dak, who masterfully provided a backbone to the music as he shuffled from right to left like a leaf caught in the pull of a breeze. Drummer Greg Erwin whipped himself into a frenzy, beating his drums with the ferocity of a man with his hands on fire; his playing gave life blood to the bouncy garage rock that radiated from the stage.

Saint Motel’s music pulled away the inhibitions of its listeners, making the crowd forget they ever had a purpose in life other than shaking their booties on the dance floor. – LAist

With:
Craft Club
The Airlines
Hello Vegas

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Thursday 02.12.09: DIRTY SWEET / NIGHT HORSE / SEA OF AIR

Dirty Sweet || Listen || Watch

They are, in the very purest form of the words, an “arena rock band,” one that is not soiled by the excess and attitude of the genre. Nope, the Dirty Sweet, much like their name implies, are a gritty rock band, one that solos, stomps, and hollers with the best of them. Granted, they look like they stumbled out of a time machine that was set to “Woodstock, 1969,” but their blistering guitar chops and howling vocals never come across as revisionist. The selling point might be how they can rock the bushy-mustache look without a shred of irony, in addition to getting away with wearing a leather vest (frills or no frills, it matters not) without a shirt underneath. Jealous? Yeah, me too. – Portland Mercury

with:
Night Horse
Sea Of Air || Listen

8:30pm / $8 / 21+

Wednesday 02.11.09: CLUB NME with SWEETHEAD / RUN THROUGH THE DESERT / PEDESTRIAN

Sweethead || Listen

Troy Van Leeuwen is best known for his participation in Queens of the Stone Age (who plan to release a flood of CDs this year, after a period of relative quiet), but Sweethead, his new project with Serrina Sims, might turn out to be an even more satisfying and commercially viable band. That’s in large part because the previously unknown Sims already has so much star power, belting out her seedy glam tunes with a seductive assurance on par with Chrissie Hynde and Kleveland’s Stephanie Smith. “Slashed tires and a cut of vampires left you open to a right-wing malevolence,” she hisses enigmatically amid Van Leeuwen’s seesawing chords and a sinisterly insistent Stooges piano lurking just below the waterline of “The Great Disruptors,” from Sweethead’s upcoming debut CD. It’s that modern rarity — a straight-up hard-rock song that’s not ironic or stupid, infused instead with plenty of glittery atmosphere and sexual danger. Sims maintains her cool allure even on faster, punk-style rave-ups like “We Turned Our Backs,” raising expectations all the higher for the album. – LA Weekly

with:
Run Through The Desert || Listen
Pedestrian || Listen

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

Friday 02.06.09: OLIVER FUTURE / GLISS / LINE AND CIRCLE / RAMI DEAREST

Oliver Future || Listen

Nothing sums up the essence of Oliver Future, and perhaps their mixed feelings about L.A., than the back to back dazzlers that close this suite. “Drowning Parade” is a soulful ballad that could be an Antony and the Johnsons outtake, with its smoky-lounge vocals, alto and tenor saxophones, and Wurlitzer piano. The gentle tune gives way to “The Slow Fast,” filled with scraping guitar riffs, techno beats, and punk rock screams “It’s a-a-a-l-l… o-o-o-n-n.” This record is on alright: on point, and on its way to being one the better surprise releases of the year. To hear for yourself, simply do what I did and put Pax Futura on the stereo. – Lost At Sea

with:
Gliss || Listen
Line And Circle
Rami Dearest

8:30pm / $8 / 21+

Thursday 02.26.09: CLUES (ex-Unicorns, ex-Arcade Fire) / BLACK CHEETO

Clues || Listen

While countless new bands have imitated the pop sounds made famous by Montreal’s music export, Clues counts among its members originators of that sound. Alden Penner (Unicorns) and Brendan Reed (Arcade Fire) continue pioneering music, expanding Montreal’s pop music lexicon with reference to the post-punk and experimental music traditions. The band’s shows are frenetic and theatrical: multiple drummers, unique instrumentation, and a bent Commodore 64. In 2008, the band was rounded out by regulars of the Montreal music/art scene’s, Ben Borden, Lisa Gamble, and Nick Scribner. During shows and on recordings, the band share and trade off on their collection of instruments, creating grand versions of experimental pop songs. – The Trip Wire

With:
Black Cheeto

8:30pm / $8adv – $10dos / 21+

Friday 02.20.09: SPLIT LIP RAYFIELD / SARAH GAYLE MEECH / COUSIN LOVERS

Split Lip Rayfield || Listen

In the four years since the last Split Lip Rayfield record, the band had to overcome the loss of founding member Kirk Rundstrom to cancer. In that respect, I’ll Be Around is an affirmation of the band’s 14-year journey and the scars its gas-tank bass and three surviving members have accumulated. The fifth album is vintage Split Lip Rayfield: equal parts goofball humor (“The High Price of Necromancy”) and straight-faced sincerity (“I’ll Be Around”). The players are masters of their instruments — banjo, mandolin, guitar and one-sting bass — but hardly showoffs, preferring to let the sublime three-part harmonies and slice-of-life stories do the talking. The tempos still race but don’t careen off the edge as they once did. That’s likely how the members of SLR are living these days, and it’s a joy to have them around. – The Pitch

with:
Sarah Gayle Meech || Listen
Cousin Lovers || Listen

8:30pm / $12 advance – $14 day of show / 21+

Thursday 02.19.09: KXLU and Manimal Vinyl present BLACK BLACK / ALEXANDRA HOPE / CORRIDOR / VOICESVOICES

BlackBlack || Listen || Watch

With:
Alexandra Hope
Corridor
VoicesVoices

8:30 pm / $8 / 21+

Sunday 02.22.09: NEIL HAMBURGER / KIDNEYS / THE IMAGINARY BEAR AND BARNEY PUPPET SHOW / DAIQUIRI

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:
Kidneys (Brooks Wackerman from Bad Religion)
The Imaginary Bear and Barney Puppet Show
Daiquiri

8:30pm / $8 / 21+

Monday 02.23.09: Monday Night Residency – LE SWITCH / RADAR BROS. / ANDY CLOCKWISE / THE FARAWAY PLACES

Le Switch || Listen

Aaron Kyle sings as if he’s never five minutes from his last whiskey, or five minutes from his next, occasionally lurching into a down-deep growl you wouldn’t think could come from an angular white dude in a collared shirt and old browline spectacles.

But it’s that voice, and the woeful tales it conveys, that have endeared L.A. fans to the distinctly vintage soul-pop of Le Switch. “We’re not the fashion police,” Kyle says. “I think if you write a good song, people are going to respond, no matter whether it’s gonna end up in Vice magazine. Besides, I’d trade soul for cool any day.”

Le Switch’s sound, which nods to the likes of Leon Russell, Dr. John and Randy Newman, first began to take shape when Kyle fell in with drummer Joe Napolitano in 2005. Maria DeLuca (trumpet, viola, vocals) joined next, and by the time keyboardist Josh Charney and bassist Christopher Harrison had come on board, Kyle was eager to “make the Leon Russell or Harry Nilsson album we wanted to make,” he says. “Everybody in this band listens to a huge assortment of ’60s and ’70s music — there’s not a lot of new music I can drive with.” – LA Times

With:
Radar Bros. || Listen
Andy Clockwise
The Faraway Places

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Tuesday 02.24.09: MIRANDA LEE RICHARDS / HE’S MY BROTHER, SHE’S MY SISTER / SQUARE ON SQUARE / THE QUARTER AFTER

Miranda Lee Richards || Listen || Watch

Miranda Lee Richards first came to some attention in 2001 with the release of her debut album, The Herethereafter, which featured a wonderfully sparkling version of the old Rolling Stones tune “Dandelion.” Written just as the Stones were entering their psychedelic period in the mid-’60s, it was a perfect little ephemeral soap bubble of a song, with atypically sunny, hippie-ish lyrics and an airy-fairy musical backing that was countered by Charlie Watts’ thunderous tom-tom fills. Richards’ remake was even more precious, with her sweetly true melodies replacing Mick Jagger’s rough shouting, and it announced the arrival of a unique stylist. Her long-awaited follow-up album, the new Light of X (Nettwerk), produced by Rick Parker, charms with delicate, carefully rendered balladry and gently laid-back pop tunes. There’s a hint of country music and wide-open spaces with Ben Peeler’s pedal-steel adornments on “Savorin’ Your Smile” and “Olive Tree,” and Richards’ radiant voice lights up the dusky guitar riffs of “Early November.” She gives good jangle on the power-pop reverie “Pictures of You,” while Parker frames her solemn piano chords with shimmering guitar plucking on the ballad “Here by the Window,” which builds a haunting momentum with bluesy grandeur. Her lyrics dip a little too often into facile clichés (“biting the hand that feeds us,” “caught in the headlights,” etc.), but Richards’ gorgeous singing usually elevates even the plainest sentiments. – LA Weekly

With:
He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister
Square on Square (former Marjorie Fair)
The Quarter After || Listen

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

Tuesday 02.17.09: MIRANDA LEE RICHARDS / THE CHAPIN SISTERS / THE MOON UPSTAIRS / BIG SEARCH

Miranda Lee Richards || Listen || Watch

Miranda Lee Richards first came to some attention in 2001 with the release of her debut album, The Herethereafter, which featured a wonderfully sparkling version of the old Rolling Stones tune “Dandelion.” Written just as the Stones were entering their psychedelic period in the mid-’60s, it was a perfect little ephemeral soap bubble of a song, with atypically sunny, hippie-ish lyrics and an airy-fairy musical backing that was countered by Charlie Watts’ thunderous tom-tom fills. Richards’ remake was even more precious, with her sweetly true melodies replacing Mick Jagger’s rough shouting, and it announced the arrival of a unique stylist. Her long-awaited follow-up album, the new Light of X (Nettwerk), produced by Rick Parker, charms with delicate, carefully rendered balladry and gently laid-back pop tunes. There’s a hint of country music and wide-open spaces with Ben Peeler’s pedal-steel adornments on “Savorin’ Your Smile” and “Olive Tree,” and Richards’ radiant voice lights up the dusky guitar riffs of “Early November.” She gives good jangle on the power-pop reverie “Pictures of You,” while Parker frames her solemn piano chords with shimmering guitar plucking on the ballad “Here by the Window,” which builds a haunting momentum with bluesy grandeur. Her lyrics dip a little too often into facile clichés (“biting the hand that feeds us,” “caught in the headlights,” etc.), but Richards’ gorgeous singing usually elevates even the plainest sentiments. – LA Weekly

with:
The Chapin Sisters || Listen
The Moon Upstairs || Listen
Big Search

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

Tuesday 02.10.09: MIRANDA LEE RICHARDS / LOWER HEAVEN / WHISPERING PINES / NICK JAGO

Miranda Lee Richards || Listen || Watch

Miranda Lee Richards first came to some attention in 2001 with the release of her debut album, The Herethereafter, which featured a wonderfully sparkling version of the old Rolling Stones tune “Dandelion.” Written just as the Stones were entering their psychedelic period in the mid-’60s, it was a perfect little ephemeral soap bubble of a song, with atypically sunny, hippie-ish lyrics and an airy-fairy musical backing that was countered by Charlie Watts’ thunderous tom-tom fills. Richards’ remake was even more precious, with her sweetly true melodies replacing Mick Jagger’s rough shouting, and it announced the arrival of a unique stylist. Her long-awaited follow-up album, the new Light of X (Nettwerk), produced by Rick Parker, charms with delicate, carefully rendered balladry and gently laid-back pop tunes. There’s a hint of country music and wide-open spaces with Ben Peeler’s pedal-steel adornments on “Savorin’ Your Smile” and “Olive Tree,” and Richards’ radiant voice lights up the dusky guitar riffs of “Early November.” She gives good jangle on the power-pop reverie “Pictures of You,” while Parker frames her solemn piano chords with shimmering guitar plucking on the ballad “Here by the Window,” which builds a haunting momentum with bluesy grandeur. Her lyrics dip a little too often into facile clichés (“biting the hand that feeds us,” “caught in the headlights,” etc.), but Richards’ gorgeous singing usually elevates even the plainest sentiments. – LA Weekly

with:
Lower Heaven || Watch
Whispering Pines
Nick Jago

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

Tuesday 02.03.09: MIRANDA LEE RICHARDS / THE SHORE / MAGIC MIRROR / EXITMUSIC

Miranda Lee Richards || Listen || Watch

Miranda Lee Richards first came to some attention in 2001 with the release of her debut album, The Herethereafter, which featured a wonderfully sparkling version of the old Rolling Stones tune “Dandelion.” Written just as the Stones were entering their psychedelic period in the mid-’60s, it was a perfect little ephemeral soap bubble of a song, with atypically sunny, hippie-ish lyrics and an airy-fairy musical backing that was countered by Charlie Watts’ thunderous tom-tom fills. Richards’ remake was even more precious, with her sweetly true melodies replacing Mick Jagger’s rough shouting, and it announced the arrival of a unique stylist. Her long-awaited follow-up album, the new Light of X (Nettwerk), produced by Rick Parker, charms with delicate, carefully rendered balladry and gently laid-back pop tunes. There’s a hint of country music and wide-open spaces with Ben Peeler’s pedal-steel adornments on “Savorin’ Your Smile” and “Olive Tree,” and Richards’ radiant voice lights up the dusky guitar riffs of “Early November.” She gives good jangle on the power-pop reverie “Pictures of You,” while Parker frames her solemn piano chords with shimmering guitar plucking on the ballad “Here by the Window,” which builds a haunting momentum with bluesy grandeur. Her lyrics dip a little too often into facile clichés (“biting the hand that feeds us,” “caught in the headlights,” etc.), but Richards’ gorgeous singing usually elevates even the plainest sentiments. – LA Weekly

with:
The Shore
Magic Mirror
Exitmusic

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

Monday 02.09.09: Monday Night Residency – LE SWITCH / VAUDEVILLE / BLANK BLUE / LES BLANKS

Le Switch || Listen

Aaron Kyle sings as if he’s never five minutes from his last whiskey, or five minutes from his next, occasionally lurching into a down-deep growl you wouldn’t think could come from an angular white dude in a collared shirt and old browline spectacles.

But it’s that voice, and the woeful tales it conveys, that have endeared L.A. fans to the distinctly vintage soul-pop of Le Switch. “We’re not the fashion police,” Kyle says. “I think if you write a good song, people are going to respond, no matter whether it’s gonna end up in Vice magazine. Besides, I’d trade soul for cool any day.”

Le Switch’s sound, which nods to the likes of Leon Russell, Dr. John and Randy Newman, first began to take shape when Kyle fell in with drummer Joe Napolitano in 2005. Maria DeLuca (trumpet, viola, vocals) joined next, and by the time keyboardist Josh Charney and bassist Christopher Harrison had come on board, Kyle was eager to “make the Leon Russell or Harry Nilsson album we wanted to make,” he says. “Everybody in this band listens to a huge assortment of ’60s and ’70s music — there’s not a lot of new music I can drive with.” – LA Times

with:
Vaudeville
Blank Blue
Les Blanks

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 02.16.09: Monday Night Residency – LE SWITCH / THE MINOR CANON / THE BREAKUPS / SWIM PARTY

Le Switch || Listen

Aaron Kyle sings as if he’s never five minutes from his last whiskey, or five minutes from his next, occasionally lurching into a down-deep growl you wouldn’t think could come from an angular white dude in a collared shirt and old browline spectacles.

But it’s that voice, and the woeful tales it conveys, that have endeared L.A. fans to the distinctly vintage soul-pop of Le Switch. “We’re not the fashion police,” Kyle says. “I think if you write a good song, people are going to respond, no matter whether it’s gonna end up in Vice magazine. Besides, I’d trade soul for cool any day.”

Le Switch’s sound, which nods to the likes of Leon Russell, Dr. John and Randy Newman, first began to take shape when Kyle fell in with drummer Joe Napolitano in 2005. Maria DeLuca (trumpet, viola, vocals) joined next, and by the time keyboardist Josh Charney and bassist Christopher Harrison had come on board, Kyle was eager to “make the Leon Russell or Harry Nilsson album we wanted to make,” he says. “Everybody in this band listens to a huge assortment of ’60s and ’70s music — there’s not a lot of new music I can drive with.” – LA Times

with:
The Minor Canon
The Breakups
Swim Party

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

MOnday 02.02.09: Monday Night Residency – LE SWITCH / WHISPERTOWN 2000 / WRONG WAY DRIVER / THE WORLD RECORD

Le Switch || Listen

Aaron Kyle sings as if he’s never five minutes from his last whiskey, or five minutes from his next, occasionally lurching into a down-deep growl you wouldn’t think could come from an angular white dude in a collared shirt and old browline spectacles.

But it’s that voice, and the woeful tales it conveys, that have endeared L.A. fans to the distinctly vintage soul-pop of Le Switch. “We’re not the fashion police,” Kyle says. “I think if you write a good song, people are going to respond, no matter whether it’s gonna end up in Vice magazine. Besides, I’d trade soul for cool any day.”

Le Switch’s sound, which nods to the likes of Leon Russell, Dr. John and Randy Newman, first began to take shape when Kyle fell in with drummer Joe Napolitano in 2005. Maria DeLuca (trumpet, viola, vocals) joined next, and by the time keyboardist Josh Charney and bassist Christopher Harrison had come on board, Kyle was eager to “make the Leon Russell or Harry Nilsson album we wanted to make,” he says. “Everybody in this band listens to a huge assortment of ’60s and ’70s music — there’s not a lot of new music I can drive with.” – LA Times

with:
Whispertown 2000 || Listen
Wrong Way Driver
The World Record

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Sunday 02.01.09: Radio Free Silverlake presents ROCK AGAINST HD with FOL CHEN / RADARS TO THE SKY / LIGHT FM

Rock Against HD – A benefit for the Huntington’s Disease Society of America

with:
Fol Chen
Radars to the Sky
The Light FM

8:30pm / $10 / 21+

Saturday 02.07.09: Tompkins Square presents CHARLIE LOUVIN / MIKE STINSON / FRANK FAIRFIELD

Charlie Louvin || Listen

2007 saw Louvin celebrate his 80th birthday amidst a swirl of activity around the release of his first studio album in ten years, Charlie Louvin. Grammy-nominated for Best Traditional Folk Album, the disc features George Jones, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Will Oldham, Elvis Costello and many others. Charlie toured and recorded with Lucinda Williams, made a video for the song “Ira”, released a field recording of one of his many in-store performances, Live at Shake It Records, played over 100 concert dates sharing stages with Ryan Adams and Neko Case, appeared on giant festivals like Bonnaroo and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, and placed a medallion around Emmylou Harris’ neck inducting her into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Charlie’s self-titled album earned 4 out of 5 stars in Uncut and Mojo Magazine, and sparked a bevy of great press and renewed interest in his fascinating career.

Instead of hanging back at age 81, Charlie has instead chosen to challenge himself. Steps to Heaven was recorded live with a gospel choir comprised of three sisters, journeyman gospel pianist Derrick Lee, and Chris Scruggs adding doghouse bass and electric guitar. Louvin had never recorded with black gospel musicians before, and in doing so discovered a new musical path. “I did things on the gospel record I had no idea I could do. I’d be thinking along the way, ‘How can I do things I’ve never done before?’ And I did it.”

with:
Mike Stinson || Listen
Frank Fairfield

8:30pm / $15 advance, $17 day of show / 21+

Friday 02.13.08: DON CABALLERO / SBACH / DD/MM/YYYY

Don Caballero || Watch

As the second album by the new incarnation of Don Caballero, led by the last remaining original member, drum virtuoso Damon Che, Punkgasm finds the band desperately searching for a new direction. Some of the old sensibilities remain, but here they rifle through various styles outside the realm of syncopated interplay, even (gasp!) incorporating songs with vocals. While it’s interesting to see them try to break the holding pattern of intricately carved polyrhythms, the trio’s try-anything behavior results in a random assortment of songs, some of which will leave old-time fans scratching their heads and wondering, who is this? “Why Is the Couch Always Wet” swims in My Morning Jacket reverb and harmonies, “Celestial Dusty Groove” mimics the choppy indie rock of Jawbox and Shiner, and the titular song that ends the album is a ’70s punk throwback to the Fall and P.I.L., complete with snidely squeaked vocals. The good news is that these songs are actually executed quite well, and the group seems to have a chameleon-like ability to impersonate. – Insound

with:
sBACH (Spencer Seim from Hella)
DD/MM/YYYY

8:30pm / $12 advance; $14 day of show / 21+

Sunday 02.08.08: SUKI EWERS / DALLAS DON AND THE ECHO PARK PLAYERS / PATRIA JACOBS

Suki Ewers || Watch

Suki Ewers has spent her career perfecting a glorious, countrified strand of dream-pop as part of bands Mazzy Star, Opal and Anemone, and this new Kramer-produced solo outing is comparable with the slowcore loveliness of Low, the stargazing Nashville sounds of Cortney Tidwell, and most obviously, the opiated balladry of former bandmate Hope Sandoval, particularly on the brilliant opener ‘Time After Time’. The songwriting and production are in perfect harmony, sounding like a pedal steel-toting Velvet Underground on ‘All Day Long’, whilst spouting blasts of echoing guitar distortion and searing synthesizer on ‘This Must Be Heaven’. Sidestepping the dream-pop pitfalls, Ewers never hides her songs – or for that matter her vocals – behind the array of studio techniques and effects that help shape this album, and Kind Of Hazy resounds far more clearly than its title might have you believe. – Boomkat

with:
Dallas Don and the Echo Park Players
Patria Jacobs

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 02.21.08: GRAILS / JAMES BLACKSHAW / SUN ARAW

Grails || Listen || Watch

Imbibed from the dark lip of divine quasi-metal deliverance, Doomsdayer’s Holiday, the latest from Portland ‘s Grails, is a portentous brew, heady with intoxicating textures that spilleth over. The band’s unique approach to instrumental rock—which meanders ever so slightly toward faint, sun streaked horizons—relies on few of the conventions shared by their contemporaries. Where Mogwai or Explosions In The Sky opt for quiet/loud dynamics and rely considerably on carefully crafted crescendos, Grails seem to cast their compositions onto a gently flowing breeze, set adrift without effort, though far from aimless. – Treble

with:
James Blackshaw || Listen
Sun Araw

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

Wednesday 02.18.08: Indie 103 presents CLUB NME with THE MYSTERY JETS / LOW FLYING OWLS

The Mystery Jets || Listen || Watch

The story of Twenty One runs thus, then – a young quartet of musicians plug away for years in a practice space on Eel Pie Island, West London, under the tutelage of one Henry Harrison…Once there, they find local man-about-town and esteemed DJ Erol Alkan, who takes over production duties for the second album and coaxes pop from a band with skills hardened during their time studying “loads of prog stuff” but re-invigorated by a new sense of youthful abandon and independence. The result is a modern pop masterpiece.

All of which is almost true – Mystery Jets’ new album is certainly a fantastic record bursting with life and colour and personality, reaching out towards the listener in slugs of moody bass and dazzling, club-drugged synth lines. But, on reflection, perhaps the hailing of Twenty One as a masterpiece does a disservice to its creators. This is an album as much about the growth of a band, and the process by which the record got here, blasting joyously from speakers, as it is about the songs contained therein…Twenty One is the sound of guitar music finding its place in London in 2008 but doesn’t take itself too seriously to think that’ll last the summer, past whoever and whatever comes along next. Thankfully, the quartet’s past should see them avoid the pitfalls of zeitgeist convention they’ve managed to confound so far.

Musically, this raids the ’80s for the only thing left worth taking, tracks like ‘Two Doors Down’ recalling the tableau vivant pop of ABC, while those flaring synth lines, presumably devised by Alkan, fire across the top of the mix in the same way that Antibalas’ horns added much-needed colour to the Foals record. That track is _Twenty One’s discoball hero, building through levels of Smiths-y guitar surf before erupting into a bewildering chorus, sounding like Whitney Houston’s ‘I Want to Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)’ as sung by Squeeze or The Kinks. It is ridiculously good.
It’s an ease that suits Mystery Jets as well as their music, and, finally, I can come to reject the term ‘masterpiece’ as the natural growth of this band promises to propel them on and up, into dizzy and deserved, ever-fresher stratospheres.- Drowned in Sound

with:
Low Flying Owls

8:30pm / $15 advance; $17 day of show / 21+

Thursday 02.05.08: THE FREEKS (members of Nebula/ Zen Guerrilla/ Earthless/&Wellwater Conspiracy) / DAVIS (member of Fu Manchu) / SASQUATCH / SASSY

The Freeks || Listen || Watch

In guitarist Isaiah Mitchell’s hidden Hillcrest alleyway apartment, Ruben Romano settles down to talk about his ragtag collection of musician friends dubbed The Freeks. Romano is down from Orange County after a full shift at his day job to put in a quick night of rehearsing and recording with Mitchell, who’s best known for his heavy riffage with San Diego’s Earthless and as the No. 2 guitar-slinger for Lady Dottie & The Diamonds. The Freeks were never meant to be a real group; it was more of a fun recording project for Romano and a getaway for his friends with full-time bands. Now he finds himself coordinating mini-rehearsals all over the state in preparation for the band’s first U.S. dates.

Sitars, swirling organs and backwards noises decorate The Freeks’ songs, only to be split up by instrumental interludes jam-packed with spacey weirdness. Song titles like “Descent of the Yellow Chrysalis” and “Dance of the Moth Queen,” plus a slew of trippy album and poster artwork, further add to the notion of Summer of Love-type influences, but the band avoids actual hippie costuming. – San Diego CityBeat

with:
Davis (member of Fu Manchu)
Sasquatch
Sassy

8:30pm / $8 / 21+

Wednesday 02.04.09: Indie 103 presents CLUB NME with LITTLE BOOTS / LOVE GRENADES / LEXICONDON

Little Boots || Listen || Watch

We’re not sure about you, but with all the substandard, will-this-do pop music thrown in our direction these days we’ve become so familiar with the feeling of trying to find the good in something that it’s a complete shock to the system to have, right in front of us, an artist where the real game is trying to find something bad. But there’s nothing. Little Boots is a totally bullet proof 21st century popstar. She writes and produces and performs. The stuff she writes and produces and performs is really incredibly brilliant: bright, sophisticated modern pop music full of hooks and tunes and exciting sounds and sonic tricks. She can pull the whole thing off live, combining the aforementioned brilliant pop music with a funny, likeable, stylish and confident stage presence… This is Kylie and the Pet Shop Boys all in one person – the popstar we’ve all been waiting for for years and years and years. – Popjustice

with:
Love Grenades
LexiconDon

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

Thursday 02.19.09: DUNCAN SHEIK with Lauren Pritchard / HOLLY BROOK @ Echoplex

Duncan Sheik || Listen

In addition to writing the music for the Broadway musical hit Spring Awakening, Grammy nominated singer–songwriter Duncan Sheik is collaborating with Playwright Steven Sater on The Nightingale, a musical based on the Hans Christian Andersen classic which premiered during the 26th annual O’Neill Music Theater Conference. Sheik has composed original music for the Public Theatre’s Shakespeare in the Park production of Twelfth Night and for The Golden Rooms of Nero, which opened at the Magic Theater in San Francisco earlier this year. His self-titled debut album on Atlantic Records, was an enormous popular and critical success and spent 30 weeks on the Billboard 200. Other albums include Humming, Daylight, Phantom Moon (Nonesuch Records) with lyrics by Steven Sater and his latest, White Limousine (Rounder Records),Duncan’s songs have appeared in many Film Soundtracks including Great Expectations, The Saint, Teaching Mrs. Tingle, Three to Tango, What a Girl Wants, Transamerica and Amazing Grace (a documentary about the late Jeff Buckley).

The performance will feature songs from his forthcoming CD/theatre project, “Whisper House”, as well as “Spring Awakening” and his earlier recorded work. Sitting in on the tour will be Lauren Pritchard who played Ilse in the Broadway production of “Spring Awakening”.

plus:
Holly Brook

@ Echoplex
Enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

7pm / $37.50 / all ages