It’s a shorter show schedule as we wind down toward the holiday: ‣ Tricky winds up an 11-date tour behind his latest album “Mixed Race” with a show at the Troubadour. That’s his video for “Murder Weapon,” a remake of the 1990s dancehall hall hit, above. Nocando opens tonight’s show. ‣ Hip-hop whiz kids Odd […]
Fast and furious and old-school and … NPR-approved? Yeah, that’s OFF! – the punk-rock supergroup of Keith Morris (Black Flag/Circle Jerks), Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides), Mario Rubalcaba (Earthless/Hot Snakes/Rocket From the Crypt) and Steven McDonald (Redd Kross). If anyone’s entitled to engage in some healthy revivalism, it’s these guys. The 55-year-old Morris, after all, has […]
This weekend’s best anniversary party: ‣ Tip of the cap to the Hotel Cafe, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this weekend with its HoHoTel Holiday shows that benefit the Los Angeles Fire Dept.’s Spark of Love Toy Drive. The venue is doing it up right, rolling out the big guns, including many artists who nurtured […]
When I talked to Matt Vasquez earlier this year for a story about Delta Spirit, he was pretty aw-shucks about the side project he had in the works with Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes and John McCauley of Deer Tick. “We’re thinking about calling ourselves the Traveling Bill Murrays,” he said at the time. “I’m not […]
Top 4 reasons to procrastinate wrapping holiday gifts tonight: ‣ John Grant, whose album “Queen of Denmark” got the nod as the top release of the year by Mojo magazine, is joined by the Chapin Sisters and J. Tillman for a 7 p.m. show at the Autry Museum. That’s Grant’s video for “Chicken Bones,” above. […]
[A hearty happy birthday to Beth Orton …] Tonight’s top 3 outings: ‣ Australian psych-rockers Tame Impala [who made a good impression on a June visit to L.A.] play to a sold-out Echoplex. ‣ Rain Phoenix of Papercranes, whose second album “Let’s Make Babies in the Woods” is due Jan. 24 on Manimal Vinyl, will […]
The new video for Broken Social Scene’s “Texico Bitches” takes big oil to a very strange place. You’ve probably heard the song, an anti-oil company tome, on BSS’s “Forgiveness Rock Record.” Seeing director Thibaut Duverneix’s video to the end might put a whole new spin on the notion of forgiveness. ||| Download: “Texico Bitches (Star […]
Dead Snares, the solo adventure of Remy Zero’s Jeffrey Cain, won’t get many votes for feel-good album of the year for “Speak the Language,” but its dark, gauzy textures and layered guitars fashion a fitting backdrop for the songwriter’s musings on mortality. The gripping video for the language is the work of Tobias Stretch, who […]
First there was this L.A. Times story on how Echo Park has changed. Because it has, y’know, and if you live in Manhattan Beach and only skirt Echo Park to go to Dodger games, you might not know that. Then there was this response on the LA Weekly blog, which made for lively reading. Now […]
Scottish wall-of-sound-builders Mogwai already have the leading candidate for best album title of 2011; “Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will” will be out on Sub Pop on Feb. 15. The video – from Antony Crook’s documentary on cyclist James Bowthorpe, “30 Century Man” – offers an edited version of the song … which I […]
