Top recs: Jon Brion tonight, as always; Fiery Furnaces (pictured; photo by David Greenwald) and their Radiohead-hating madness at the El Rey on Saturday; Monday, the Books are playing a pretty special gig at Hollywood Forever but I’ll be at the Happy Hollows residency to catch Real Estate. The full list for the next few [...]
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Like “For Your Lover, Give Some Time” before it, the video is black and white, the mood is somber, and the song is gorgeous. Another of the best moments from the British troubadour’s strong Truelove’s Gutter. Also, peep Richard’s boots!
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“Bring your lesbian friend to my swanky Los Angeles mansion,” Jason sang in a jam from last night at the Swell Season’s L.A. gig. “Remember when I was in the show Freaks and Geeks?” I do, broseph! Please make more movies and/or respond to my Tweets.
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All photos by David GreenwaldThe most surprising thing about Final Fantasy’s intriguing set were the three school uniform-clad girls standing directly behind me, tingling with the kind of teenybopper anxiety usually reserved for the Jonas Brothers. “Can you believe Owen Pallett is going to be right there?” one wondered before the curtain rose, while a [...]
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It’s been over a decade since Mercury Rev’s Deserter’s Songs and Neutral Milk Hotel’s In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, two albums that pushed the boundaries of chamber-pop and psychedelic rock in an era of indie innovation that has few rivals. Without shouldering them with the burden of exaggerated expectations, blossoming Los Angeles act Pepper [...]
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All photos by David GreenwaldJohn Darnielle is a complicated man. His Mountain Goats have risen from their early days as solo, lo-fi underdogs to their current incarnation, a crackerjack four-piece band playing to an audience bleating out every word. His long-awaited overnight success was a source of obvious joy to the songwriter on Sunday night, [...]
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Photo by David Greenwald“Black Smoke,” the first single for Tindersticks’ upcoming Falling Down a Mountain, finds the evocative rockers moving farther from the smoldering jazz club pop of their earlier days and deeper into the riff-driven ’60s psych they embraced on 2008’s The Hungry Saw. It’s not a move without promise — the track has [...]
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Jams: A First Look at Clean Equations‘ self-titled EP and Yael Meyer’s Heartbeat EP, Ryan Adams‘ Sad Dracula semi-classic, Let It B-Minus.Video: The Rest go Hitchcock with “The Lady Vanishes.”Camera Obscurist: Stillness? Still the move.Tour Dates: The Mountain Goats and Final Fantasy — tonight!
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The Rest – The Lady Vanishes from The Rest on Vimeo.A clever bit of work from The Rest — Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes pared down to 6 minutes to soundtrack the band’s post-rocky song of the same name. Excellent stuff from one of the year’s can’t-miss new acts. Previously: First Look: The Rest – [...]
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In the absence of a new Feist album this year (or better, a New Buffalo full-length), the dearth of wry, catchy female folk-pop is beginning to grow as cold and crushing as the oncoming winter. Enter Yael Meyer, a Los Angeles singer-songwriter whose sparkling arrangements and lilting voice raise her above the Hotel Cafe crowd [...]
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Photo by David GreenwaldA lovely lady on the California coast, 2008.Dirty Projectors – “Stillness Is The Move”: mp3More Photography: Camera Obscurist | Photography Portfolio
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Bishop Allen brings its fey, Tony the Tiger indie-pop to the Echoplex tonight (in support of new album Grrr…) alongside less fey, equally reliable Amazon.com champs Throw Me The Statue. Eat a balanced breakfast before this one, folks. Later this week: Sometimes-singer, mostly comedienne Charlyne Yi is at the UCB Theatre on Friday; the Mountain [...]
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Ryan Adams can be too hard on himself. Let It B-Minus may not be his highest-graded collection, but the sessions certainly deserved release beyond his Web site, circa 2006, where it emerged alongside goofball, Garage Band-y albums under his monikers DJ Reggie and Warren Peace. But Let It B-Minus, recorded as Sad Dracula, is a [...]
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Frustrated as I often am with the insubstantial trends of modern-era indie rock, for those interested in tapping into actual underground music, it’s a bit of a golden age. Take Clean Equations’ self-titled debut, an indie-pop EP that draws equally on the sophisticated nerd-outs of Built to Spill and Grandaddy and the more majestic aspirations [...]
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New Music: Taken By Trees‘ “Watch the Waves”; Shannon Stephens‘ long-awaited return.Videos: Taylor Swift charms on Saturday Night Live, the Main Drag’s stop-motion throwdown for “Dove Nets”; live footage of Rose Melberg’s rare, gorgeous trip to Los Angeles.[Taylor in Columbus in 2008 / photo by rowelbg]Camera Obscurist: Orangutan love.Critical Backlash: Harshing Owl City’s misbeg
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Guys, let’s be honest here: Taylor’s funny! And she wrote her own monologue! She was pretty great in every skit last night, though it’d be nice if Saturday Night Live, y’know, fired all their writers and hired some funny people so poor Kristen Wiig would have something less embarrassing to do. At any rate, can [...]
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Victoria Bergsman’s never had to worry about her instrument. As the singer of the Concretes, the feminine side of Peter Bjorn and John’s “Young Folks,” and now with her solo project, Taken By Trees, the Swedish vocalist could put the phone book to song. On her Taken By Trees debut, Open Season, unfortunately, she kinda [...]
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The Main Drag “Dove Nets” directed by Ben&Julia from Ben&Julia on Vimeo.A jam of a stop-motion video, directed by Ben&Julia for a stand-out from the Main Drag’s Yours As Fast As Mine. Details on the band’s just-completed third album (and fresher tracks) on the way, promise.
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Photo by David GreenwaldFrom the Los Angeles Zoo, October 2009.Chad VanGaalen – “I Miss You Like I Miss You”: mp3Previously: Camera Obscurist
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Rose Melberg sings “Homemade Ship”LA-Underground has captured three wonderful performances from Rose Melberg’s rare L.A. gig at the Echo Curio last week. Two more videos, including Rose’s cover of Fred Brooks’ “I Will Never Marry,” after the jump. “Things That We Do”“I Will Never Marry”More: Live: Rose Melberg at Echo Curio, 10.27.09
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