Kevin Bronson on November 6th, 2011

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[Here’s our long-delayed wrap-up on October’s Culture Collide fest:]

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Last month’s second annual Culture Collide festival staged by Filter found the chewy center for two groups of music fans – sonic explorers bent on discovering new bands, and expatriates of the 24 nations represented by the bands playing the neighborhoody, eight-venue event in Echo Park. There’s no arguing that at $20 for three days of the music, a Culture Collide wristband was a bargain. But there were problems with venue switches and lineup changes that left a few festival-goers hanging; hopefully by Year 3 those will be ironed out.

Culture Collide culminated in Sunday’s Toyota Antics Block Party, a free, three-stage (one inside Taix) event that brought plenty to the table. Buzz Bands LA staffers Seraphina L and Kevin Bronson offer this recap:

Photo galleries (bands, above, and the scene at the bottom of the post) by Laurie Scavo. Individual photos by Bronson.

Top 15 Things We Liked About Culture Collide:

1. Liam Finn at the Echo: New Zealand’s Liam Finn closed out Culture Collide’s first night at the Echo, but he certainly didn’t go home early. Known to play two-hour sets, the talented multi-instrumentalist ran around on stage between the drum solos and guitar solos midway through numerous songs prompting someone to jokingly comment, “I always love a muppet on drums.” (– S.L.)

2. Electra at at 826LA: Israel’s biggest band Electra brought their diverse catalog of garage-rock, pscyhedelia, rockabilly and more to the quaint stage inside 862LA on Friday, but had some problems with hearing vocals. After lead vocalist Nitzan Horesh nearly went deaf (twice) from the faulty monitors, the three-piece band professionally handled technical difficulties with humor during their hit song “Coming to Get You” (specifically as Horesh sang the lyrics “How does it feel when the voices get loud and intense?”). (– S.L.)

3. The Morning After Girls at Taix: Australia-bred the Morning After Girls do psych-rock as well as any band on the planet, big or small. In fact, their set Taix begged the question: Why aren’t these guys huge? The twining guitar parts of founding members Sacha Lucashenko and Martin B. Sleeman shredded eardrums in the small room, but not at the expense of nuance. Their next full-length album is long overdue, and will welcomed any place shoegaze records are sold. (– K.B.)

4. WIM at Taix: Australian band WIM filled up the Taix’s Champagne Room rather nicely for an early set. Pulling out all the stops with four-part harmonies, this Modular Recordings band brought in a lush load of instrumental glam-folk and dream pop topped with Martin Solomon’s baritone and cushioned with intricate rhythms. (– S.L.)

5. The Asteroids Galaxy Tour at the Echoplex: Denmark’s Asteroids Galaxy Tour‘s set at the Echoplex went off without a hitch at the Echoplex as most already knew them for their hit songs “Around the Bend” (featured in an 2008 iPod Touch commercial) and “The Golden Age” (featured in a Heineken commercial this year). Mette Lindberg’s charm and loud wardrobe also didn’t hurt as she shimmied around in dark sunglasses as if the venue were a giant disco club. (– S.L.)

6. The Postelles at Taix: Anybody a bit miffed by the confusion over venue switches and the like quickly got an attitude adjustment courtesy of NYC quartet the Postelles. Once you located them in Taix’s Champagne Room, the foursome’s Strokes-y pop went down like one of the restaurant’s imported beers. (– K.B.)

7. The Lanskies at Taix: The Lanskies from France (with the exception of lead vocalist Lewis Evans originally being from Liverpool), was a rowdy amalgamation of the Cure, Art Brut, Franz Ferdinand and Arctic Monkeys, and did everything they could to please a crowd up until their request for the audience to shout “Yee-haw!” (– S.L.)

8. Jason Falkner at 826LA: Native Los Angeles songsmith Jason Falkner, whose pop roots date back to the Three O’Clock and then (with Jon Brion, Buddy Judge and Dan McCarroll) the Grays, neither releases music quickly enough nor plays out frequently enough for our tastes, so the opportunity to see him front a trio in a small room was welcome. The sound did Falkner’s perfectionist tendencies no favors, but the songs begged for fans old and new to track down his releases (some of which are actually easier to get in Japan than here). (– K.B.)

9. Please the Trees at Taix: Like WIM’s set on Friday, Please the Trees from the Czech Republic offered robust arrangements where guitars didn’t sound like guitars and frontmant Vaclav Havelka brought his own flair to the stage (and off the stage). A bit Grizzly Bear and a bit Arcade Fire (minus the massive number of people on stage), Taix’s main room finally saw a band who went out into the crowd and lose themselves in their own music. (– S.L.)

10. You Say France & I Whistle at 826LA (Sweden): Whereas the 826LA stage was too small for others, Sweden’s You Say France & I Whistle worked the room to their advantage by filling it up with stuffed animals (which they threw out in to the audience as freebies during their set), sing-along pop songs and high energy. Think Los Campesinos with a sweeter side. (– S.L.)

11. The Henry Clay People at the Echo: The local quartet’s set was advertised as an acoustic affair. Hah. Not likely, thought those familiar with the Henry Clays. Sure enough, the brothers Siara and bandmates ripped through a set that included some harder-edged, punk-rock material off the album they have planned for 2012. (– K.B.)

12. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah at Stage 1: Brooklyn’s Clap Your Hands Say Yeah played a solid indie-rock set that fellow New Yorkers (but Manhattan residents) Gang Gang Dance would drastically contrast later on in the night at the Toyota Antics Block Party. Playing a handful of songs off their new album “Hysterical,” it was a nice moment to take in between all the electronica acts dominating Culture Collide’s block party this year. (– S.L.)

13. CSS at Stage 1: Representing South America for Culture Collide’s international theme, Brazil’s electro-rock band CSS seemed to ease in to their new songs off of their latest record “La Liberacion” as well as they went into dance hits such “Music Is My Hot Hot Sex.” It may not always be easy to decipher their lyrics, but the dance beats always translate well. (– S.L.)

14. Gang Gang Dance at Stage 2: Tripping everyone out while they closed out the Block Party this year, New York’s Gang Gang Dance came prepared with their worldly experimental and synthesizer-heavy electro-clash. Not to mention extravagant wardrobe, with one of the member even wearing a tree on top of his head. All in all, beguiling. (– S.L.)

15. Sparkadia at Taix: Although Australia’s alternative pop band Sparkadia had played the previous night at Taix, returning to the same spot was a treat and a deserving way to wrap up the festivities for the weekend. The brainchild of vocalist and guitarist Alex Burnett, Sparkadia’s band name seemed more than appropriate as arena-worthy songs soared through strong vocals, tight percussion and riveting guitar solos. (– S.L.)

Special mentions: Canadian wiseguy Buck 65 was positively hilarious in his set at Taix – I think my face cramped from smiling so much. … San Diego’s Writer played an explosive set of indie-rock; can’t wait for their album to come out. … Avi Buffalo with a rapper. Really? … Belgium’s the Black Box Revelation blistering garage rock on Friday at Taix was revelatory indeed. Come back soon. … And Cameras (pictured) were another band that made a strong case for the Australian contingent “winning” Culture Collide. (– K.B.)

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