The Monday Show Low Down (Or "There's A Horse In The Hospital...")
Damn. Why does it seem like everything happens in LA the one weekend when you skip town? Great shows, parties, BBQs, the works... I mean, I know it's good to leave the sheltering, protective bubble that you build up around you on a daily basis and have to deal with the rigors of, I dunno, chain restaurants, weddings, and babies every now and again.
That's the problem with living in a town with so much going on... Blink and you'll miss something. It's one of those good problems to have, though.
Monday, September 29 - Death To Anders, Fol Chen, Die Rockers Die, Rademacher @ The Echo (FREE) - Dios (Malos), Devon Williams, Toco/Jomo @ Spaceland (FREE) - Calexico & The Cave Singers @ The Henry Fonda Music Box - Chrissie Hynde & James Walbourne of The Pretenders @ Amoeba Music (6PM) - Alex and Sam, Liz Pappademas, Falsetto Teeth, & Cassorla @ Tangier - My Imaginary Friends, The Monthlies, & Burlington Family @ The Silver Lake Lounge (FREE) - Journey, Cheap Trick, & Heart @ The Greek - Mike Stinson @ Redwood Bar - Patton Oswalt @ Largo - Two Ghost Bros, Daniel Brummel, & Archways @ Mr T's Bowl - Sean Carnage Presents Laco$te, Bearries, Holy Water, Moment Trigger, & Melanie Taylor Vail @ Pehrspace - Indie 103.1 presents Jamie Lidell & Janelle Monae @ The Avalon
DECISION: I just want to stress again that if you haven't seen Death To Anders play live in the last year or so, you owe it to yourself to check them out again because they have some frigging excellent material on their latest EP and album. (Listen to Camera Lens, Great Plains States, and Dollright here.)
When they nail it live, and I've seen it, it's amazing... And since tonight is the final night of their FREE residency at The Echo (along with the also well-worth-seeing Rademacher and Fol Chen), chances are it's going to be something pretty special.
Tuesday, September 30 - Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, B Dolan, DJ Paul V @ The Echo - Evangenitals, Clevis, Hello from Reno, & Confessions of a Corn Silo @ Mr T's Bowl - thenewno2, The Outline, & Drive A @ The Key Club - Beach House, Lazarus, Shugo Tokumaru @ Spaceland - Mr Gnome & Cue The Moon @ The Silver Lake Lounge - Rancid @ The Henry Fonda Music Box - Greg Proops @ Largo - Deathday Party, Silentist, & Thrones @ The Smell - WAHID (drum and oud duo) + ELROY LEROY @ Echo Curio - Murs @ Amoeba Music (6:30PM)
DECISION: Anyone have any recommendations for Tuesday night?
Wednesday, October 1 - Shiloe, Summer Darling, Spirit Vine, & Ojos Rojos (& dj set by RFSL) @ Bordello - One Trick Pony @ Good Hurt - My Bloody Valentine @ Santa Monica Civic Auditorium - Sloan @ The Troubadour - Indie 103 presents CLUB NME with: Pattern Is Movement, The Minor Canon @ Spaceland - Neil Diamond @ The Hollywood Bowl - Rancid @ The Henry Fonda Music Box - Spindrift, Candy Apple, Rocking Horse @ The Echo - Dub Club @ Echoplex - Joe Frank @ Largo - Van Gogh's End, CMG and We Are The Night, & Sound of Noise @ Mr T's Bowl - BEARRIES + DISRUPTION + ULTRA TIGER + CRASH OVERDRIVE @ Echo Curio - Juliette (Hello Stranger) Commagerie & Chris Merritt @ Tangier Lounge - Aaron (Amnion) Embry and Friends w/ Quazar and The Bamboozled @ Tangier Restaurant (FREE) - Neva Dinova, McCarthy Trenching, & Whispertown 2000 @ The Silver Lake Lounge - The Ringers + Roses On Her Grave @ 3 of Clubs - KCRW presents Stars & Think About Life @ The Avalon
DECISION: Lots of good stuff going on this Wednesday night... For my part, I'm guest djing with Kevin Bronson on his Buzz Bands show from 6 - 8 PST on Little Radio. I'm going to try to get some new tracks from local artists for that, so it should be pretty fun. OOP! HAVE TO RESCHEDULE. MAYBE NEXT WEEK...
Thursday, October 2 - Dina (Space Mtn) Waxman, Good Luck Bear, Chris Jacks (solo), and The Artists @ Hyperion Tavern - eslie and the Badgers, The Music Lovers, Divisadero, The Meemies @ Spaceland - GRAM RABBIT / SEMI PRECIOUS WEAPONS @ The House of Blues - Sigur Ros @ The Greek - My Bloody Valentine @ Santa Monica Civic Auditorium - Ben Kweller @ The Troubadour - Neil Diamond @ The Hollywood Bowl - Rancid @ The Henry Fonda Music Box - Fig 8 Slo-Mo, Inazuma, Media Blitz, Million Kids, Comprehend, & Panic Movement @ Mr T's Bowl - Kurt Wagoner (Lambchop), Chapin Sisters @ The Echo - Echo & Grand Ol Echo present: Justin Townes Earle, Sarah Gayle Meech, Whispering Pines @ The Echo - Hello Dragon, I Make This Sound, Chop Chop @ The Silver Lake Lounge - James @ The El Rey (sold-out) - Indie 103.1/CHAOS presents Amon Amarth with Ensiferum, Belphegor, The Absence @ The Avalon - Darker My Love @ Amoeba Music (7PM)
DECISION: I mean to finally check out the Hyperion Tavern on Thursday night. I hear it's a good local dive and they have music on Thursdays. This time, they have a solo performance by Dina Waxman, who used to head up Space Mtn, a local indie pop act what I liked.
Friday, October 3 - Indie 103 and Web in Front present: The Henry Clay People (record release party) w/ The Parson Red Heads, Downtown/Union, Le Switch @ Spaceland - Isgood music & Squaregirls Present Seasons, Queen Kwong, Master Slash Slave, Brutus Gets The Girl, & Beastlee @ Mr T's Bowl - David Byrne @ The Greek - No Age, Gun Outfit, Urinals, Nodzzz, & PROTECT ME @ The Smell - Club Underground presents: Love Grenades @ The Echo - Irregular Wine Tasting @ Echoplex - Jon Brion (two sets) @ Largo - Warpaint @ The Troubadour - Rancid @ The Henry Fonda Music Box - Anavan, Ahab, Voice, & Eustation @ Pehrspace - DEVON WILLIAMS SOMETHING + RESIDUAL ECHOES + BABL BIDJITS + MAN's ASSASSINATION MAN @ Echo Curio - Nikka Costa with Pictures and Sound @ The El Rey - Jessica Fichot & Vagabond Opera @ Tangier - The Dandy Warhols @ The Wiltern - Deerhoof, The Happy Hollows, & Okay @ The Avalon
Saturday, October 4 - The Eagle Rock Music Festival w/ Earlimart, One Trick Pony, The Parson Redheads, The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra, Radar Brothers, Mika Miko, Crystal Antlers, and more @ downtown Eagle Rock - Milk: Blood @ The Cocaine at Live Jazz - The Swell Season w/ Iron & Wine @ The Greek - Manimal Vinyl presents: Rio en Medio, Voices Voices, Weave!, Exitmusic @ Spaceland - Oscillating Innards, Lazy Magnet, Emaciator, Pro Bro Gold, & Persimmons Pomegranate @ The Smell - Rancid @ The Henry Fonda Music Box - A Place To Bury Strangers & In Waves @ The Troubadour - Free Falling Safe, Chupacobra, Lemon Drop Kick, & The Get Well Cards @ Mr T's Bowl - EAGLE WINGED PALACE + TIM WILLIAMS + USELESS KEYS + SHOLI @ Echo Curio - The LA Weekly Detour Festival w/ The Monolators, The Mars Volta, Afternoons, Gogol Bordello, Black Lips, Peanut Butter Wolf, Cut Copy, Datarock, The Mae Shi, The Submarines, & more @ downtown LA
DECISION: Out of the forty bands playing this year's Eagle Rock Music Festival -- which, goddamn, is FREE -- I want to see at least half of them... Seriously. This day is like a personal national holiday to me. More soon.
Sunday, October 5 - Grand Ol Echo @ The Echo (early) - Part Time Punks presents: Twin Crystals (from Canada) @ The Echo (late) - Rancid @ The Henry Fonda Music Box - Aquarium Drunkard Presents: Horse Feathers, Travel By Sea @ Spaceland - Liz Phair @ The Troubadour (sold-out) - Jackson Browne @ The Orpheum - Rachael Cantu @ Tangier Monday, October 6 - Sean Carnage Presents Mincemeat or Tenspeed, Ilo Mar, Team Andrew, & Black Church @ Pehrspace - Liz Phair @ The Troubadour (sold-out) - Kenan Bell, Noah and the Whale, Lindi Ortega @ Spaceland (FREE) - Black Apples @ The Silver Lake Lounge
DECISION: Again, anyone have anything for this night?
We briefly talked with the group's weary lead Carl Jordan late last night after band practice.
RFSL (9/24/2008 11:08:24 PM): Hey, Carl. How was practice? westernstates (9/24/2008 11:08:57 PM): Good. A few amp meltdowns, but that's nothing new. RFSL (9/24/2008 11:09:13 PM): Looking forward to the show? westernstates (9/24/2008 11:09:29 PM): You know it! For a while now. RFSL (9/24/2008 11:09:51 PM): What's the plan for it in as far as new versus old material? westernstates (9/24/2008 11:10:38 PM): What we were working on tonight was a pretty even balance... We're doing the whole EP, though. westernstates (9/24/2008 11:11:39 PM): The EP is five songs... We've also been playing a new song called The Cliff but that's not on the EP... RFSL (9/24/2008 11:12:24 PM): How would you say the new material is different from your first album? westernstates (9/24/2008 11:13:35 PM): I'm not sure if it's all that different... A lot of people described the first album as "laid back" and i kind of feel like the EP is slightly less so. RFSL (9/24/2008 11:14:20 PM): I'd say the new songs are more up tempo. westernstates (9/24/2008 11:16:05 PM): Yeah, for sure. The whole thing rocks a bit more, if you will RFSL (9/24/2008 11:17:01 PM): That's great that you're playing the show with Light FM and The French Semester. (Haven’t heard the other band.) Great line-up and a good location. westernstates (9/24/2008 11:18:24 PM): Yeah, I like Safari Sam's. The first time i was there was for the Sea Level Records going-away party, and Division Day and Le Switch did that sweet Boyz II Men cover... RFSL (9/24/2008 11:20:21 PM): Yeah, that was a fun night. RFSL (9/24/2008 11:21:48 PM): How's the new band going? westernstates (9/24/2008 11:22:47 PM): The new band is great. I think we're all actually having a lot of fun. Mike’s from the original lineup is still in the mix, so it's not all new, RFSL (9/24/2008 11:23:18 PM): How long have the new guys been playing with you now? Six months? westernstates (9/24/2008 11:24:25 PM): Something like that. RFSL (9/24/2008 11:24:44 PM): What are their backgrounds? westernstates (9/24/2008 11:25:45 PM): Fine arts, mostly. RFSL (9/24/2008 11:26:54 PM): Looking back a bit… How did that video come together for Power Lines off your first release? westernstates (9/24/2008 11:28:38 PM): That was such a gift. I had happened to ask Josh Forbes of Winch and Pulley if he was interested in doing something... He put me in touch with his friend Rylan Strader, and what you see on screen there is really Rylan's work, along with the great crew he put together. I just kind of showed up and really had a fantastic time. That was my first and only experience with Craft Service.
RFSL (9/24/2008 11:29:31 PM): I think it frames the music really well. westernstates (9/24/2008 11:30:26 PM): Yeah I think Rylan just nailed it perfectly. We were actually just talking today about doing a new one.... RFSL (9/24/2008 11:30:40 PM): For which song? westernstates (9/24/2008 11:31:41 PM): Probably Oh World since it's sort of "the single" but there's nothing really determined yet. I think Trans Am would be a fun one to do a video for RFSL (9/24/2008 11:32:34 PM): What's next for you after the release show? westernstates (9/24/2008 11:33:36 PM): Well, we're playing in long beach next week and we just confirmed a show at The Echo for late October... a pretty amazing bill which I'm told i can't talk about yet. RFSL (9/24/2008 11:34:27 PM): Nice. Any plans to tour beyond SoCal any time soon? westernstates (9/24/2008 11:35:43 PM): I hope so... We'll see what happens. For now, probably more writing and recording. RFSL (9/24/2008 11:36:08 PM): I remember hearing that you wrote all the songs on the first album by yourself in your basement. westernstates (9/24/2008 11:39:18 PM): That's kind of true. A lot of the songs were actually written up in Santa Cruz and Monterey, I'd just head down to the beach and lurk around with my guitar. And most of the recording I did at my house, but not in a basement, actually a bedroom RFSL (9/24/2008 11:40:37 PM): How about the new ones? westernstates (9/24/2008 11:42:26 PM): The new ones all came about here in LA. Basically the same deal in terms of working at home, but we were able to record the drums sort of under-the-radar at a somewhat legitimate recording studio in Hollywood. RFSL (9/24/2008 11:42:45 PM): Which of them is your favorite? westernstates (9/24/2008 11:45:20 PM): I guess it’s sort of stock to say I don't have a favorite, but I really don't. I'm really enjoying playing them live though. They all kind of take on a new form after working on the recorded versions. RFSL (9/24/2008 11:45:46 PM): Cool. One last question for you... What are you listening to these days? westernstates (9/24/2008 11:48:47 PM): Tejas by ZZ Top, Switched on Bach, The Happy Hollows, Sam cook, The Kink's Lola vs. Powerman, David Bowie's Man Who Sold The World, the new Ra-ta-tat... RFSL (9/24/2008 11:49:29 PM): Great. That's all I've got. Thanks for all your time, Carl. westernstates (9/24/2008 11:49:58 PM): Thank you, Joe. RFSL (9/24/2008 11:50:19 PM): See you tonight.
To enter into the drawing, just write us here with SPACELAND in the header, your full name, and why the hell you should win or something. (Tickets are normally $10 at the door.)
The Monday Show Low Down (Or "All The Donuts Have Names Like Prostitutes...")
Intro goes here. This is where the intro goes when the intro goes in. Intro goes here. This is where the intro goes when the intro goes in. Third verse? Same as the first...
Here's what this week is looking like for music in LA.
Monday, September 22 - Death to Anders, One Trick Pony, Sarah (The Happy Hollows) Negahdari, & Mad Gregs @ The Echo (FREE) - Alex and Sam, The Chuttesville Speak, Marvelous Toy, & Ben Harvick @ Tangier - CSS @ The Mayan - Does It Offend You, Yeah? @ The Troubadour (SOLD OUT) - Sean Carnage Presents Pizza!, Caldera Lakes (Kevin Shields + Married in Berdichev), The Monolators, Luna is Honey, Splintercake @ Pehrspace - Hot Chip @ The Wiltern - Odd Modern, Daniel Brummerl, City City, & The Kris Special @ Mr T's Bowl - Dios (Malos), Sonadora, The Bible Children, Peachfuzz @ Spaceland (FREE) - Josh Rouse w/ Bart Davenport @ Largo - My Imaginary Friends, Point Juncture WA, Flashing Red Lights, & New Fidelity @ The Silver Lake Lounge (FREE) - The Raconteurs & The Kills @ The Greek - Hot Chip @ The Wiltern - Dios (Malos), Sonadora, The Bible Children, Peachfuzz @ Spaceland (FREE) - Fleet Foxes w/ Frank Fairfield @ The El Rey (sold-out)
DECISION: The FREE line-up at The Echo is almost frightening tonight: Death to Anders, One Trick Pony, Sarah (The Happy Hollows) Negahdari, & Mad Gregs. Even though it's going to be all acoustic, it should be packed... Hopefully people will, y'know, shut the fuck up for it.
Lots of other good stuff going on tonight as well, but not in such a concentration.
Tuesday, September 23 - Seasons, The Hectors, The Cobra Lillies, & Exit Music @ Bordello - The Barack Obama-rama: An Obama Fundraiser w/ The Lady Tigra, The Bird and the Bee, and more @ Spaceland - CSS @ The Mayan - Amy Macdonald & La Rocca @ The Troubadour - Etran Finatawa @ Amoeba Music (7PM) - Josh Rouse w/ Bart Davenport @ Largo - KCRW Presents: Little Jackie/J Davey @ The Roxy - Evangenitals, Mahi Gato, & Piel @ Mr T's Bowl - Ballerina Black, Life Underwater, Molino, & Man/Miracle @ The Silver Lake Lounge - Okkervil River, Sea Wolf, & Zykos @ The Henry Fonda Music Box - The Raconteurs & The Kills @ The Greek - Fleet Foxes w/ Frank Fairfield @ The El Rey - thenewno2, The Heartstring Symphony, The Devil's Orchestra, & Ps Nevermind @ The Key Club
DECISION: The free Is Good Music Presents show over at Bordello sounds great on Tuesday night. I like indie rock act The Hectors and the "other" group EXITMUSIC, have been meaning to see The Monolators' other band Cobra Lillies for forever and people tell me that Seasons are like "a less gay Little Ones" for what that's worth...
Wednesday, September 24 - Marathon Live w/ Glasser w/ Bodycity + Tall Hands @ 3 of Clubs - Cold War Kids @ The Henry Fonda Music Box - Indie 103 presents CLUB NME with: Juliette Commagere, Obi Best, Charlie Wadhams @ Spaceland - Security Productions, Evita Freaks, EZR, Why Things Burn, & Fascinoma @ Mr T's Bowl - The New Year, A Weather, Modern Memory @ The Echo - HARRY MERRY + WE ARE GOOD FRIENDS + BAND OF OUTSIDERS @ Echo Curio - Olin and The Moon, Matt Ellis, & Mouse Kills Tiger @ Tangier Lounge - Solas @ The El Rey - Carney & Robert Francis @ The Troubadour - Aaron (Amnion) Embry and Friends, Sara Lov, & Eleni Mandell @ Tangier Restaurant - Wounded Lion & Victim Vision @ The Silver Lake Lounge
DECISION: Amnion's Aaron Embry playing solo... Obi Best (formerly known as Colorforms)... Fascinoma... Been meaning to catch all three.
Thursday, September 25 - KROQ Locals Only & Radio Free Silver Lake Present The Western States Motel EP Release Event w/ The French Semester & Aushua @ Safari Sam's - Pop Levi @ Amoeba Music (7PM) - NICO VEGA VS THE CRASH KINGS @ Vanguard - Bastidas @ The Smell - Atmosphere @ The Wiltern - Megapuss, Entrance, Little Joy @ The Troubadour - Mission of Burma preforming Vs., Hank IV @ Echoplex - Ra Ra Riot, Tussle, Walter Meego, Lemonade @ The Echo - Lenka @ The Hotel Cafe - Sera Cahoone @ Spaceland - respect @ Echoplex - No Age @ Opera & Crimson (guest list-only) - Family Tree Analog, isabellas, Cindercone, & Ariesteia @ Mr T's Bowl - The Watkins Family Hour @ Largo - Juno Reactor @ The El Rey - L’KEG Nite: Blue Jungle, Bastidas, Stab City!, Naima Earth @ The Smell - SCOTT GOODWIN (BONUS) + MITCHELL BROWN + METAL ROUGE + FANTASTIC SLEEP @ Echo Curio - The Shondes, We Float, & Bruises @ The Silver Lake Lounge - Lion of Panjshir, Mia Doi Todd & Feelings of Beings @ Tangier Lounge - Shawn Smith @ Tangier Restaurant - The Hives & Eagles of Death Metal @ The Mayan
DECISION: I don't listen to the radio a hell of a lot, so I only hear KROQ when I work out in my company's gym... (Which is not often and seems to revolve around a lot of Social Distortion.) But people tell me that their Locals Only show is pretty good and the fact that they're putting on a free show on Thursday at Safari Sam's with The Western States Motel and The French Semester is goddamn impressive to me. Both bands deserve a lot more attention.
It's The Western States Motel's EP release party that night and I've heard it and heart. It's smarty pop music just like you like it.
Friday, September 26 - Apollo Sunshine, The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra, The Coral Sea, Karabal Nightlife @ Spaceland - The Eagle Rock Bowling & Drinking Club Presents 3rd Anniversary Show! w/ The Seasons, One Trick Pony, & Guy Christiano @ All Star Lanes - The Valley Arena, The Transmissions, Fay Wrays, & The Soft Hands (w/ DJs Squaregirls) @ Pehrspace - AMPS FOR CHRIST +THE SOGGY DUCHAMP QUARTET+PILLARS & TONGUES+JERBOA+60 WATT KID @ Echo Curio - Jon Brion @ Largo - Restaurant Record Release w/ The Muslims & Dirt Dress @ The Troubadour - Dalmacio Von Diamond, Jesus Makes the SHotgun Sound, Voices Voices, & Comprachicos @ The Smell - Multiple Now Syndrome, Charmkin Rebellion, Whispering Pine, Ahacs Breath Ensemble, Joe Baiza @ Mr T's Bowl - Silver Jews, James Jackson Toth @ Echoplex
DECISION: Again, lots of great shows going on the same night: Apollo Sunshine, The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra, The Coral Sea, Karabal Nightlife @ Spaceland; The Eagle Rock Bowling & Drinking Club Presents 3rd Anniversary Show! w/ The Seasons, One Trick Pony, & Guy Christiano @ All Star Lanes; and The Valley Arena, The Transmissions, Fay Wrays, & The Soft Hands (w/ DJs Squaregirls) @ Pehrspace.
We're giving away a few pairs of tickets to Apollo Sunshine, The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra, The Coral Sea, Karabal Nightlife @ Spaceland. Write us right here with "SPACELAND TICKETS" in the headline, your full name, a reason why you should get them.
Saturday, September 27 - Suki Ewers, Old Toy Trains, & Super Karma @ The Cocaine at Live Jazz - KCSR Presents Abe Vigoda, Moonrats, & Hard Place @ USC Ground Zero (FREE) - Patrick Park, I.L.Y. (Emily Kokal from Warpaint), Jen Furches @ Spaceland - Blue Mask, The Dan Dryers, Backbiter, Motorcycle Black Madonnas @ Mr T's Bowl - Squaregirls presents: Hungry Beat (dance party) @ Pehrspace - Information Society @ The Viper Room - Caldera Lakes, Gowns, 60 Watt Kid, Kawaiietly Please @ The Smell - Juliana Hatfield @ Largo - Rumspringa, Voxhaul Broadcast, Funeral Party, and The Franks @ The Echo - Manhattan Murder Mystery, Thailand, Guppies, & Very! @ Echo Curio
DECISION: I've got a wedding on Saturday night, so am sadly going to miss one or more of the following:
- Suki Ewers, Old Toy Trains, & Super Karma @ The Cocaine at Live Jazz - KCSR Presents Abe Vigoda, Moonrats, & Hard Place @ USC Ground Zero (FREE) - Manhattan Murder Mystery, Thailand, Guppies, & Very! @ Echo Curio
Any of those shows should be a great time.
Sunday, September 28 - MSTRKFRFT @ The El Rey - Patton Oswalt @ Largo - Neil Hamburger, Andy Kindler, Heidecker & Wood, Tracy Dean & Jesus, Harvey Sid Fisher @ Spaceland - Not the Government, Blue Jungle, Dirty Eyes, & Entertainment @ Mr T's Bowl - Echo & Grand Ol Echo present: Cousin Lovers, Hello Darlin’ @ The Echo - Learning Music, Sara Lov, & Fascinoma @ Tangier - Journey, Cheap Trick, & Heart @ The Greek
DECISION: Last chance to catch Learning Music's residency at Tangier...
And electric or unplugged, we maintain that she's an extremely talented singer/songwriter, as well as being “kind of magic… a grinningly happy median between spiritual and silly. Or as Vonnegut would put it, a ‘wampeter.’”
So we caught up with her for a quick IM conversation before the show...
RFSL (12:21:51 PM): Hey, Sarah. How are you today? Sarah (12:22:53 PM): Great! RFSL (12:23:57 PM): So you've got the acoustic show on Monday at DTA’s residency. Sarah (12:24:05 PM): Yes. RFSL (12:24:49 PM): You started out playing acoustic material solo and then formed The Happy Hollows? Or how did that work? Sarah (12:26:46 PM): Yeah, I have played acoustic music since... uhh.. since I was fourteen... Then I moved to NY and played my acoustic songs for a year, and then I moved to LA and put down my acoustic and played only electric. The last eight months I started playing acoustic again for the first time! RFSL (12:27:30 PM): While still doing The Happy Hollows. Sarah (12:27:37 PM): Yeah!!!! RFSL (12:28:11 PM): How do you decide what songs to do where? Sarah (12:32:02 PM): Well, I sort of just allow anything that comes out of me musically to come out. I usually write a batch of ten songs at a time and then Chris and Charlie sift through them and decide which ones they want to work on for Happy Hollows and which ones just don't quite fit in with what our sound is. So these solo songs are the ones that just work so much better on acoustic, very bare bones and stripped down solo material RFSL (12:33:30 PM): (But then there's the rare animal like Tambourine that starts off acoustic and then becomes a Happy Hollows song, right? That's on the new HH EP.) Sarah (12:35:38 PM): Hahhaa!! Oh no, well, that one was written when I moved to LA and wanted to start The Happy Hollows and play loud electric guitar songs. That one was one of my first ever electric outings. These solo songs are very finger picking based stuff... And besides two songs, they have all been written in the last six months. RFSL (12:36:43 PM): Oh, cool. I was just going to ask that. I know some of the older songs, like Driver, but think I’ve only heard the new ones at the acoustic show at Bordello a few months back. RFSL (12:36:52 PM): That was kind of an amazing night. Sarah (12:36:59 PM): SO amazing!!! RFSL (12:37:07 PM): Everyone playing was kind of phenomenal. Sarah (12:37:15 PM): Seriously. RFSL (12:37:26 PM): That was the first time you'd played out some of the new songs? Sarah (12:37:35 PM): YES RFSL (12:38:04 PM): What are they about? How did they come to be? Sarah (12:41:55 PM): Well, they have been a total surprise to me. The LAST thing I EVER expected to come out of me in all honesty. I think 08 has been a really difficult year for me in a lot of ways. I have been dealing with a lot of family and personal stuff, and just feeling seriously like...I'm really looking within...oh man I sound so cheesy...ohhh...how do I put it...I just really wanted to be vulnerable...to just sit down for a second and share with an audience...just how vulnerable and scared I feel...just how innocent I feel right now...that is where it stems from I think. I feel really really really thin skinned this year.. I think that’s why all of these songs came out this year.. RFSL (12:43:06 PM): I'm sorry to hear that it's been a rough year. Sarah (12:45:40 PM): Oh, thank you, well, it’s been great in a lot of ways too!!! I am learning so so so much about my own truth and integrity, and I feel like I have grown in leaps and bounds in such a short period of time, lately I feel like I am out of the fog and everything feels really sunny and hopeful again. Yes, oh hell, yes, these songs were my best friends through this dark period. Totally helped me...oh man...yes... RFSL (12:46:35 PM): What are some of the songs? I've heard them, but don't know their names or what they're about and stuff. Sarah (12:47:50 PM): Hahhaha, I don’t know their names either!! uuumm, some of them haven’t told me their names yet...But one is called Voodoo, but the rest..keep changing their exact titles on me those bastards. RFSL (12:48:25 PM): Oh, I know that one. I'll insert the video footage of that... here.
Sarah (12:48:33 PM): Hahaha! Sarah (12:49:22 PM): One is called Captain Negahdari. RFSL (12:51:28 PM): I saw a posting called that on your solo music myspace page. It was the results of one of those internet quizzes, like "What Super-Hero Are You?" but it was "What Fucked Up Genius Composer Are You?" And the results were Captain Beefheart? RFSL (12:51:45 PM): You named the post “Captain Negahdari.” Sarah (12:51:45 PM): Yes!!! Sarah (12:52:17 PM): There is a song dedicated to that concept... Sarah (12:52:54 PM): I need to record these songs dammit RFSL (12:53:26 PM): Yeah, what's the plan to record them? Sarah (12:56:41 PM): the plan, Stan...is....well..we have just recorded and finished an amazing Happy Hollows album, finally laying down everything I wrote the last two years of my life that I wanted recorded..so..we are getting out an EP and then an Album...and that has taken all of my attention...but after all of this...when I have time it would be great to record all of these folk songs I have done. I really love them. I think they all came as a surprise and the means to record them and the time to record them will come as a surprise...I'm just going with the flow baby!! In the meantime, I am going to play them every once in a while..to keep my fingers moving fast RFSL (12:57:53 PM): I heard that you developed your guitar plucking skill while stuck w/o a car for awhile. Sarah (1:02:38 PM): hahhaha!! uuumm..ahahaa, that is funny..well, that was my tapping...that was a result of me being trapped in my house for hours on end watching all of these metal heads on you tube teach tapping from their bedrooms and spending hours and hours learning how to do it...but the fast finger picking I have been doing since I was 14. My mom was a drummer, so all I heard was fast beats all the time through the house since I was born. So, when I started playing guitar all I wanted to do was play with really intricate and fast rhythms..I wanted to invent my own style of really really fast rhythmic finger picking sounds....so I've been doing that forever. RFSL (1:03:31 PM): It kind of blows everyone's mind when you start doing that at shows. Sarah (1:03:56 PM): That is such a neat feeling, because for me it’s so easy, and I forget that it’s not easy.. RFSL (1:04:42 PM): It's like you're standing there listening and really enjoying the songs and think you have a basic grasp on what you're going to hear and THEN EVERYTHING GOES ALL CRAZY!! Sarah (1:04:54 PM): hahahhaaa, Oh thank you!! RFSL (1:05:44 PM): Looking forward to hearing you play these songs out again on Monday. RFSL (1:05:55 PM): It's DTA and who else that night? Sarah (1:07:14 PM): Thank you, Joe!! I am nervous, I get so nervous when it is so stripped down like this!! It is One Trick Pony (who I am dreading having to go after, that guy is THE BEST) and Mad Gregs who are awesome are on after DTA RFSL (1:07:50 PM): That night you played with OTP at Pehrspace was pretty magic, too. Sarah (1:09:53 PM): OH Yeah!! That was really amazing.....I will never forget your face in the audience that night....I felt like you were really getting it, and I was so nervous to share these songs for the first time, so thank you, it made me feel wonderful!! RFSL (1:11:34 PM): So before I forget to mention it, The Happy Hollows have an EP coming out at the end of October. Sarah (1:12:05 PM): Yes, October 21st! Sarah (1:12:15 PM): It is called Imaginary EP. RFSL (1:12:36 PM): And it's a preview of some of the stuff off the album you recorded with Dave Newton. RFSL (1:12:47 PM): Monster Room and Tambourine are on the EP, right?
RFSL (1:12:51 PM): And album? Sarah (1:15:14 PM): Yes, well, Lieutenant will be on the EP and album, but Tambourine is an EP-only song. All of the rest beside Lieutenant are only on the EP. We recorded 22 songs with Dave...these five are like a taste.. a little taste for what is ahead.. and we are really excited about it!! And oh man, the album just feels like heaven for me to think about. I am so happy with it.... RFSL (1:15:39 PM): Excellent. Can't wait to hear it.
RFSL (1:16:01 PM): So one last question for you: RFSL (1:16:07 PM): What are you listening to right now? Sarah (1:20:35 PM): uuuuummm..dammit..you always ask this question..and I can’t believe I didn’t prepare....I love MGMT's new record...I cant wait to hear Deerhoofs new one...and play with them which blows my mind...uumm..I have been really really craving something new recently...I've been asking friends for recommendations..I always love the local bands music more than big bands most of the time I love Death to Anders new one...I am going to kick myself because I know I am blanking and shouldn’t be.....dammit sarah RFSL (1:22:26 PM): Hee. Sarah (1:22:33 PM): I’ve been getting into Television a lot...oh ..I honestly find myself mostly listening to old stuff....but I'm so over nostalgia..I just want to hear something fresh and new....fuck nostalgia man RFSL (1:23:09 PM): I hear you. Listening to old favorites sometimes feels like flipping through old photographs. Sarah (1:23:32 PM): Yeah, let’s move on, let’s be in the NOW... Hahaha!
Haven't seen Divisadero yet, but have meant to for awhile (theramin!), while Marvelous Toy are a great intersection of talent and heart and originality (IMO one of the best newish indie pop acts in LA) and seeing One Trick Pony play at quieter, more intimately-sized venues like Pehrspace have been among my favorite show-going experiences this year.
An Open Letter To Pitchfork Media From The Airborne Toxic Event
I'm not normally one to go in for much indie rock drama... I mean, it's usually as compelling and/or relevant to world events as, say, video game message board arguments about GameSpot's perceived anti-PS3 bias. But Pitchfork's review of The Airborne Toxic Event's album (read here) and the band's subsequent detailed response (below) at least makes for an interesting read:
Dear Ian,
Thanks for your review of our record. It's clear that you are a good writer and it's clear that you took a lot of time giving us a thorough slagging on the site. We are fans of Pitchfork. And it's fun to slag off bands. It's like a sport -- kind of part of the deal when you decide to be in a rock band. (That review of Jet where the monkey pees in his own mouth was about the funniest piece of band-slagging we've ever seen.)
We decided a long time ago not to take reviews too seriously. For one, they tend to involve a whole lot of projection, generally saying more about the writer than the band. Sort of a musical Rorschach test. And for another, reading them makes you too damned self-conscious, like the world is looking over your shoulder when the truth is you're not a genius or a moron. You're just a person in a band.
Plus, the variation of opinions on our record has bordered on absurd. 80 percent of what's been said has been positive, a few reviews have remained on the fence and a few (such as yours) have been aggressively harsh. We tend not to put a lot of stock in this stuff, but the sheer disagreement of opinion makes for fascinating (if not a bit narcissistic) reading.
And anyway we have to admit that we found ourselves oddly flattered by your review. I mean, 1.6? That is not faint praise. That is not a humdrum slagging. That is serious fist-pounding, shoe-stomping anger. Many publications said this was among the best records of the year. You seem to think it's among the worst. That is so much better than faint praise.
You compare us to a lot of really great bands (Arcade Fire, the National, Bright Eyes, Bruce Springsteen) and even if your intention was to cut us down, you end up describing us as: "lyrically moody, musically sumptuous and dramatic." One is left only to conclude that you must think those things are bad.
We love indie rock and we know full well that Pitchfork doesn't so much critique bands as critique a band's ability to match a certain indie rock aesthetic. We don't match it. It's true that the events described in these songs really happened. It's true we wrote about them in ways that make us look bad. (Sometimes in life you are the hero, and sometimes, you are the limp-dicked cuckold. Sometimes you're screaming about your worst fears, your most vicious jealousies and failures. Such is life.) It's also true that the record isn't ironic or quirky or fey or disinterested or buried beneath mountains of guitar noodling.
As writers, we admire your tenacity and commitment to your tone (even though you do go too far with your assumptions about us). You're wrong about our intentions, you're wrong about how this band came together, you don't seem to get the storytelling or the catharsis or the humor in the songs, and you clearly have some misconceptions about who we are as a band and who we are as people.
But it also seems to have very little to do with us. Much of your piece reads less like a record review and more like a diatribe against a set of ill-considered and borderline offensive preconceptions about Los Angeles. Los Angeles has an extremely vibrant blogging community, Silver Lake is a very close-knit rock scene. We are just one band among many. (And by the way, L.A. does have a flagship indie rock band: they're called Silversun Pickups). We cut our teeth at Spaceland and the Echo and have nothing to do with whatever wayward ideas you have about the Sunset Strip. That's just bad journalism.
But that is the nature of this sort of thing. It's always based on incomplete information. Pitchfork has slagged many, many bands we admire (Dr. Dog, the Flaming Lips, Silversun Pickups, Cold War Kids, Black Kids, Bright Eyes [ironic, no?] just to name a few), so now we're among them. Great.
This band was borne of some very very dark days and the truth is that there is something exciting about just being part of this kind of thing. There's this long history of dialogue between bands and writers so it's a bit of a thrill that you have such a strong opinion about us.
We hear you live in Los Angeles. We'd love for you to come to a show sometime and see what we're doing with these lyrically moody and dramatic songs. You seem like a true believer when it comes to music and writing so we honestly think we can't be too far apart. In any case, it would make for a good story.
It would be a stretch to call last night's show crowded, but it could be quite succinctly regarded as "a lot of goddamn fun." Photo and video evidence are pending, but hell if that wasn't a great time... Many thanks to everyone who played, attended, and helped promote, and to Dewar's for all the cheap drinks.
Tenlons Fort's Jack Gibson opened up the night with some singer/songwriter business accompanied by Amnion's Aaron Embry on keyboard, followed by an on-and-off-stage performance by Manhattan Murder Mystery, leading into a rambunctious set by The Poor Excuses (whose I'll Do It is the perhaps best song about oral sex since Judas Priest's Love Bites). All while the film below played in the background.
Looks like site favorites The Monolators are tied in the voting for which local indie act will be invited to play at The LA Weekly Detour Festival next month. We urge you to vote for them right here today, tomorrow, and every day until the poll wraps up.
The Monday Show Low Down (Or "Men Will Come From The Shadows...")
That's incredible. Believe it or not. Those amazing animals. In a clear display of presentation overkill, there are four shows marked as "Radio Free Silver Lake Presents" in the course of the next two weeks.
What the fuck does that really mean, anyway?
Most of the time, it's just about trying to help promote events from bands we really like and want more people to pay attention to -- like Marvelous Toy, The Western States Motel, and Death to Anders. The groups do all the work setting up the shows with the venues and what not.
Then there's the monthly Let's Independent! event at Boardner's, which we organize and would probably run the risk of over-promoting if all the money from the door didn't go directly to the bands... (So it's not shilling, just enthusiasm for the acts.)
Whatever, right? Who cares? Just didn't want anyone to think we were trying to make a buck off of anyone or anything.
Here's what the week is looking like in music in LA:
Monday, September 15 - Radio Free Silver Lake Presents: Death To Anders' Residency w/ The Transmissions, Radars to the Sky, and The Monolators @ The Echo (FREE) - Alex and Sam @ Tangier - Eternal Tapestry, US Girls, Warm Climate, & Fantastic Ego @ Echo Curio - Dios (Malos), Residual Echoes, Toys That Kill, Wet Cassette @ Spaceland - Aesop Rock @ The Troubadour - Mike Stinson @ Redwood Bar - Sean Carnage Presents Human Host, Gabbertree, John Thill, & Michael Vidal (Abe Vigoda) @ Pehrspace - New Maximum Donkey, Daniel Brummel, & Bad Dudes @ Mr T's Bowl - IAMX w/ Miss Derringer @ The El Rey - Dios (Malos), Residual Echoes, Toys That Kill, Wet Cassette @ Spaceland (FREE) - My Imaginary Friends, Northstar Session, & Wells of Rickett @ The Silver Lake Lounge (FREE)
Tuesday, September 16 - Radio Free Silver Lake's Let's Independent! w/ Tenlons Fort, Manhattan Murder Mystery, & The Poor Excuses @ Boardner's of Hollywood - The Fratellis @ The Wiltern - DeVotchKa @ The El Rey - Evangenitals @ Mr T's Bowl - Thee Oh Sees, Sic Alps, & Ty Segall @ The Smell - Billy Idol @ House of Blues - John Lajoie @ Largo - Resident Hero @ The Troubadour - Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles, Dead Rock West, Mike Stinson @ Spaceland - Tiff Randol and Mikki James, So Many Wizards, & Intricate Machines @ The Silver Lake Lounge - Cava @ Amoeba Music (7pm) - Electrocute @ The Viper Room - HELL YA! Presents: David Smallen @ The Echo - Stereophonics @ The Henry Fonda Music Box - Franklin for Short, Marcus Very Ordinary, & Correatown @ Tangier - thenewno2, Army Navy, The Hatch, & Jupiter Rising @ The Key Club
DECISION: To get details and to hear tracks from all three bands playing our Let's Independent! event on Tuesday night, go right here. Also? $3 Dewar's drink specials all night.
Wednesday, September 17 - Princeton w/ Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson @ Vermont House - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Spiritualized, & Cat Power @ Hollywood Bowl - Tweak Bird Record Release Show w/ Pterodacdudes & Phillip Larue @ The Silver Lake Lounge - MGMT @ The Henry Fonda Music Box - Carney @ The Troubadour - Nico Vega @ The Viper Room - Dub Club w/ Joey Altruda @ Echoplex - Delirium @ The El Rey - Indie 103 presents CLUB NME with: Pop Levi, The Art (From Australia, formerly The Follow) @ Spaceland - Am, No Paws (No Lions), Origami Ghosts, Falsetto Teeth, & Big Bang Television @ Mr T's Bowl - Tally Hall @ Largo - Olin and The Moon, All Spots to Black, & Maxim Ludwig and The Santa Fe Seven @ Tangier (Lounge - FREE) - Aaron (Amnion) Embry and Friends, Edward Sharpe, & Lovely Syndrome @ Tangier (Restaurant - FREE) - Whispering Pines, Hand, & Sign of the Fox @ 3 of Clubs - Vampire Weekend @ The Wiltern
DECISION: If the fact that Amnion's Aaron Embry is playing at Tangier on Wednesday night didn't already grab you (and it should), maybe that The Deadly Syndrome are performing acoustic (under an assumed name) will.
Thursday, September 18 - Traditionist, An Angle, His Orchestra, & The Mumlers @ The Silver Lake Lounge - Lion of Panjshir, Infantree, & Lots of Love @ Tangier - Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Black Diamond Heavies @ The Echo - respect @ Echoplex - Mandi Perkins @ The Troubadour - Hundreds and Thousands, Prohylaxis, Pulse Out, & Random Patterns @ Mr T's Bowl - Foals @ The El Rey - Very Special Guests, These Arms Are Snakes, sBACH (Spencer Seim from Hella) @ Spaceland - KCRW Presents Teddy Thompson @ Largo - Lenka @ The Hotel Cafe - Tokyo Police Club, We Barbarians, & The Whigs @ The Henry Fonda Music Box - Vampire Weekend @ The Wiltern
DECISION: Anyone have any good recommendations for Thursday night?
Friday, September 19 - LA Underground & Radio Free Silver Lake Present The Joint CD Release Event for Marvelous Toy & Divisadero w/ One Trick Pony @ Pehrspace - Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson @ Amoeba Music (7pm) - Castledoor @ Lyric Hyperion Theatre - Man Man & Crystal Antlers @ Echoplex - Milk:Blood, No Paws (No Lions), Hey Buddy and The Pals, & I.E. @ The Smell - Sam Powell, Go Betty Go, Nathan Nice, Warlords of Thunder and lightning, Gentlemen Scoundrels, & Sarah Melson @ Mr T's Bowl - Digable Planets @ The El Rey - Jon Brion @ Largo - Jeff Hanson & Krist Krueger @ Spaceland - Bats in the Belfy & more @ L'Keg Gallery - The Wedding Present & Earlimart @ The Troubadour
DECISION: Friday night is the dual cd release party for both Marvelous Toy (who I really enjoy) and Divisadero (who I've been meaning to see for forever) at Pehrspace. One Trick Pony are also playing the night and it's probably the best venue to see them perform.
And I know a lot of music aficionados love them some hell out of The Wedding Present, which is how I feel about Earlimart (they made two of my favorite albums in the last few years). Whichever way you fall, it should be a good show at The Troubadour on Friday night.
Saturday, September 20 - Lobster Festival w/ The Henry Clay People, Oliver Future, Robert Francis, Weather Underground, & more @ The Port of Los Angeles - Throw Rag & Lower Class Brats, Roger Miret and the Disasters, The Heart Attacks and Viva Hats @ Crash Mansion - Los Dukes presents: Fake Problems, Cobra Skulls, Look Mexico, Frank Turner @ The Echo - The Meemies & The Californian @ Pehrspace - 8mm @ The Roxy - Siri Dyal Band @ The Troubadour - The Heavenly States, Audrye Sessions, What Laura Says Thinks and Feels @ Spaceland - Barr, Hawnay Troof, Protectme, & Crocodiles @ The Smell - KCRW presents: Liam Finn, The Veils, Karin Tatoyan @ Echoplex - Charts and Maps, Danger Bees, Jeff Ramuno and The Gunslingers, push/play, & more @ Mr T's Bowl - Beck, Spoon, & MGMT @ The Hollywood Bowl
DECISION: That Hollywood Bowl line-up seems like it would contain entertainment.
Sunday, September 21
- Lobster Festival w/ The Monoloators & more @ The Port of Los Angeles - Learning Music, One Trick Pony, The Sweet Hurt, & The Ear The Eye and The Arm @ Tangier - Grand Ole Echo & Echo Present: I See Hawks in LA @ The Echo (early) - Hot Chip @ The Wiltern - Crooked Cowboy & The Fresh Water Indians Orchestra @ Echoplex - KCRW Presents Bill Frisell & Greg Leisz @ Largo - Slings, Old War Shirt, The World Record, Patrick Thomas @ Spaceland - Rats & The Willow Babies @ The Smell - Man Miracle, Electric Russia, Dirt Dress, The Health Club, & Blind Like Sam @ Mr T's Bowl - My Morning Jacket @ The Greek
DECISION: Been meaning to check out Learning Music, which is a mix of musicians from a number of good local acts. One Trick Pony and The Sweet Hurt join them for their residency at Tangier this Sunday.
Here’s the barely-edited and not quite spell-checked transcript.
RFSL (7:13:10 PM): How the hell are you tonight? Tenlons F (7:13:51 PM): im doing great. jumped in the ocean for 40minutes and got back on the bus Tenlons F (7:14:13 PM): 1.5 bus there. 40 swim, 2 hr bus back RFSL (7:14:16 PM): Cool. I have a sort of related question for you then: RFSL (7:14:21 PM): A 555-mile, 5-hour plane trip was flown at two speeds. For the first part of the trip, the average speed was 105 mph. Then the tailwind picked up, and the remainder of the trip was flown at an average speed of 115 mph. For how long did the plane fly at each speed? Tenlons F (7:15:23 PM): Too stoned. Im just happy they got there RFSL (7:15:53 PM): Sorry I couldn't resist. Tenlons F (7:16:04 PM): It’s all good RFSL (7:16:25 PM): How was the show at Tangier's w/ Amnion and Dirt Bird last night? Tenlons F (7:17:18 PM): amazing. Aaron is a master. we played the tenlons fort show as a duo for most of the night, guitar and piano. he is wonderful to play music with RFSL (7:19:14 PM): I have a band crush on Amnion. Tenlons F (7:19:19 PM): the best, ive known him and nicki for about a year meeting through la-underground and they’ve both changed my life for the better that’s for sure, his bday is 11.10 and im 11.11 and he had a party and everyone basically communicated through a 6 hr drum circle Tenlons F (7:19:36 PM): until 5am RFSL (7:19:42 PM): Nice. Tenlons F (7:19:57 PM): reminded me im a hippy, i forget sometimes RFSL (7:19:50 PM): Mine is 11.1. Scorpios unite. Tenlons F (7:20:29 PM): oh yeah, me and my friend andrews film co is scorpionics, i know a bunch of them and theyre all pretty damn rocking. RFSL (7:20:52 PM): We're supposed to be manipulative and "sexy." RFSL (7:20:57 PM): Ha, ha. Tenlons F (7:21:03 PM): we can get in trouble RFSL (7:21:04 PM): I read that in a book. Tenlons F (7:22:03 PM): ohhh RFSL (7:22:54 PM): So this new music you're playing. RFSL (7:23:08 PM): Is it on an EP or album? Is it out or coming out? RFSL (7:23:41 PM): (I fired my research staff in a fit of anger the other day and haven't replaced them yet.) Tenlons F (7:24:16 PM): it is a EP, called forever is a long time. 6 songs, it was recorded in den haag, netherlands, about 30min from amsterdam, by a guy named Wim Oudijk Tenlons F (7:25:04 PM): i made 100 of them, on my own label, haunted maggot records, i'll get them on itunes. and that is it at the moment. i have 2 other albums that kind of exist in that realm Tenlons F (7:25:42 PM): but the ep is like 5 days old RFSL (7:26:00 PM): Congratulations. Tenlons F (7:26:40 PM): on recording, and sharing the music. is a feat. sometimes for some people it stays in their room RFSL (7:26:49 PM): So you're playing out to support it and stuff. Tenlons F (7:27:22 PM): Im playing the show tuesday, and then ill go to portland and work on my main man LAZ D's new record. RFSL (7:27:37 PM): What are you doing on it? Tenlons F (7:28:40 PM): i co-write, and produced, and sing hooks and share the stage with LAZ. he rocks and is one of the greatest people i have ever met. Tenlons F (7:29:09 PM): check out his website Tenlons F (7:30:02 PM): he's reaching his hip hop dream @ 27 despite people telling him he should just be a cook, because he has down syndrome RFSL (7:30:55 PM): That's cool. How long you been known him and been playing with him? Tenlons F (7:31:28 PM): since sept 2005, me and laz d been cleaning up the game RFSL (7:31:57 PM): You seem pretty nomadic. You split your time here and Austin and ... Tenlons F (7:32:09 PM): los angeles, portland, and austin i love all there for different reasons RFSL (7:32:12 PM): What do you like most about each town? Tenlons F (7:33:54 PM): well texas, my familys there, lived there from 1-18years of age, the texas lakes, id throw a stick for my dog and i to swim for hours, the austin music scene is great, and just explodes during south by, and its laid back, austin is mathew mchoughney, man...... Tenlons F (7:36:42 PM): los angeles, man what a city. most everyone i know has some kind of love/hate with LA> but after 3 trys, and 7 years later i love this place. it is surrounded and filled by a lot of shit, but i have found much magic, last year i met so many people that i love and hope to know my whole life, its the movies man, but the good part, the dream, as long as u stay hiking in griffith park hills, swim in the ocean, go out @ night when everybody else sleeps, its groovy and ure out of traffic, IN La , i feel anything can happen at anytime good or bad, its just up to u wehere u wanna look and how far. RFSL (7:37:26 PM): And Portland? Tenlons F (7:40:07 PM): portland, after 18vtexas, then LA for a year at 19 i moved to portland, and had my mind blown, its really a wonderland, the weather just got to me after a while, but in the late ninetees, when EJ' s and Satiyicon (clubs) where great and ELLIOT, quasi, unwound, crackerbash, gern blanston (people just ride bikes through the trees, going to shows, recording albums in basements, recycling, hugging trees pricessless. when i left in 2005 i had a lot of sadness i think, it took me time to grow from that, but now i see PDX back as i did. i have many friends there, some with familys , and i can really see myself growing old there. there or a farm in the netherlands growing tofu chese. RFSL (7:40:46 PM): I love how goddamn friendly and conversational people are in Portland. RFSL (7:40:55 PM): Never been to Austin. Tenlons F (7:41:28 PM): u should go next SXSW RFSL (7:41:30 PM): Yeah. Tenlons F (7:41:35 PM): i wanted to get a bunch of LA bands there Tenlons F (7:41:46 PM): a do a showcase last year but it didnt happen RFSL (7:41:53 PM): Let me know if you want to put on a party or something. Maybe I can help. Tenlons F (7:42:15 PM): there is as much off brand shit than brand. and it will get better Tenlons F (7:42:30 PM): yep. I wanna play everyday next time Tenlons F (7:42:46 PM): i didn’t play at all, but had a blast last year Tenlons F (7:43:08 PM): how long have u been do LETS indie shows at boardners?? RFSL (7:43:16 PM): Two years now. RFSL (7:43:37 PM): Kind of fell into it. They've been fun. Tenlons F (7:43:53 PM): i have been there twice and im excited to play the show outiside at nightish time RFSL (7:44:08 PM): I'm really stoked about the line-up. Tenlons F (7:44:41 PM): vote for monolators for DETOURfest!! advertisement! advertisement!!!! RFSL (7:44:46 PM): I did. RFSL (7:44:48 PM): And Light FM. RFSL (7:44:52 PM): Alternated. Tenlons F (7:45:18 PM): cool. u probably know all the bands. so its hard.. but Mary and ELi have made me dinner and i love them RFSL (7:45:32 PM): They're special people. RFSL (7:46:07 PM): The Monolators and Amnion and others are part of this really nice family-like music scene in the Eagle Rock/Mountain View area, eh? Tenlons F (7:50:56 PM): and we all love Arlo!!!!!! he grew up close to Mr.T's and has many brothers and sisters like 8 or so, he is the king of the scene!!! Tenlons F (7:53:29 PM): i played my first LA show back OCT19 w/ cat hair ensemble, a year before i had moved back to LA, at mrts but i didnt know anybody, and i wasnted aware of the magic. but then the next year, i met, launderground, downtown/union/ nate forrest and lisa, mary,eli and jakey heartbreak. jillinda, wendy and more all from MRTS Tenlons F (7:54:28 PM): besides kick so much musical ass, they are so nice. and made me feel so at home in a city of 50million RFSL (7:54:44 PM): Yeah. It's funny because it's true. Tenlons F (7:54:51 PM): im happy Tenlons F (7:55:52 PM): that it exists, and places like perspace, etc, because i dont want the indie scene to turn into the 1980 hair mettle scene, where the clubs have so many rules, pay 2 play , no 2 shows within a week, fuck all that noise Tenlons F (7:56:45 PM): long live, launderground, radiofree, and perspace and mrts RFSL (7:56:57 PM): Yeah. It makes it feel like a place you want to live instead of a place you want to visit. RFSL (7:57:19 PM): I remember I met you at a Monolators/IMTS show at Safari Sam's. Tenlons F (7:58:27 PM): i was glad to meet u later outside, i got a little wild that night, dancing and celebrating my friends bday. OCT 6th 2007 i think, i was trying to dance away the blues. RFSL (7:58:30 PM): You were drizunk and made me dance with you and my now girlfriend (second date then, I think) thought it was funny because she assumed that I knew you and I said I'd never seen you before RFSL (7:59:10 PM): You were like a second show that night. RFSL (7:59:24 PM): The sound guy kept running after you to keep you from banging on the speakers. RFSL (7:59:33 PM): And getting on stage. Tenlons F (7:59:52 PM): i know. i know. my friend said i got more blog talk that night, than any record ive done RFSL (8:00:02 PM): Ha ha. Tenlons F (8:00:20 PM): i turned off the lights by accident i was trying to give the monolators a light show Tenlons F (8:00:30 PM): i was depressed and i blasted it out. RFSL (8:00:41 PM): You made a fun show more fun. Tenlons F (8:01:16 PM): thats cool. sometimes you can cross the line, and its up to the viewers perspective on where the line is. Tenlons F (8:01:34 PM): as long as it didnt piss the bands off that there was a wild dancer on the loose Tenlons F (8:01:52 PM): im trying to mellow out RFSL (8:01:55 PM): How long you been making music? Tenlons F (8:02:35 PM): really started, like a decision to try to write songs and share them with people in 2003 Tenlons F (8:03:51 PM): but i started tfort in 98 Tenlons F (8:04:05 PM): but they were just tapes, in my bedroom and 2 friends RFSL (8:04:13 PM): What's a Tenlons Fort? Tenlons F (8:07:43 PM): i didnt know for a long time. it was justs to words that were there, as a noise collage to my friend joe cordi (11.11 bday as welll) but then later it became a term for when u are doing what u love, could be swimming, could be gardening, could be sleeping, but when u were doing it, u were in your tenlons fort. Or it could be the box or a physical space that u decide to pput all the negitive shit in ure life inside. Not forget about it, but take it out and place it inside the tenlons fort, and not let it return again. Tenlons F (8:08:17 PM): sounds way better than my name on a marquee RFSL (8:08:46 PM): I made up the word "Stereolyphrine" when I was on acid one time after college. RFSL (8:08:56 PM): I would probably use that over my name on a marquee. Tenlons F (8:09:20 PM): whoa, thats a good one. can u try and get it in the dictionary09 edition RFSL (8:09:21 PM): It meant the overwhelming feeling of diesel. With a little Howard Johnson color scheme sneaking in. RFSL (8:09:33 PM): I swear it made more sense at the time... Tenlons F (8:10:28 PM): the ocean helps me make sense of it. i like it, even though it will take the rest of the night for it to sink deeppppppppppppppp Tenlons F (8:10:58 PM): im still repeating the word and definition RFSL (8:11:00 PM): So you make movies, too. Tenlons F (8:12:21 PM): Yessssss. i love making movies, writing screenplays, something ive done all my life and continue to realize what it means to me, and what i want to do with it. Long history....the movies and the G Tenlons F (8:12:50 PM): watching them, making them, what i think they can accomplish, artisitical and people wise RFSL (8:13:55 PM): You have some clips up on your YouTube page I saw.
Tenlons F (8:14:13 PM): i had the most so called hollywood oppritunity when i was younger but had way less almost no artistic vision and solid worksense. RFSL (8:14:23 PM): Yeah? Tenlons F (8:14:41 PM): THE MOVIE clips are from an UNDERGROUND film i made called THE LOSER OF COLOURBALLS!!! Tenlons F (8:14:45 PM): and rules!!!! Tenlons F (8:15:00 PM): but its out of print. until i do the remaster this year. Tenlons F (8:15:32 PM): and im writing the sequel as we speak called THE LOSER OF COLOURBALLS 2 : ECLECTIC BOOGALOO RFSL (8:15:53 PM): I was going to ask you what was next. Tenlons F (8:16:09 PM): 10 scripts are next!!!! RFSL (8:16:10 PM): What was your Hollywood moment? Tenlons F (8:17:31 PM): to me nothing has really changed since me and my friend where pitching USED CARS 2 per studios request! in november there will be a tenlons break, and i will direct 2 films, co direct one, and try and write 4 more cheese scripts Tenlons F (8:18:26 PM): but i got to get the laz d record done, and try and get a songwriting deal, and song placement deal before then RFSL (8:18:33 PM): A Used Cars sequel would be very timely now. Tenlons F (8:18:47 PM): this was back in 98 RFSL (8:18:45 PM): You keep pretty busy. RFSL (8:18:57 PM): It was ahead of its time! Tenlons F (8:19:18 PM): USED CARS 2, the ROCK 2, a movie about girls that love bullriders, no these where projects the studio wanted Tenlons F (8:20:08 PM): and we were turning in stories about THE BEST LOOKING ASIAN MAN IN HOLLYWOOD, which we are gonna make this year, ccalled KOJI.. thats 10 years ahead. really... Tenlons F (8:20:15 PM): nothing is ahead.. Tenlons F (8:20:16 PM): of its time Tenlons F (8:20:41 PM): it comes down to just working your ass off, really hard, and then hope for 1 percent of luck Tenlons F (8:20:47 PM): not the other way around RFSL (8:21:02 PM): I was thinking that Used Cars was that movie in the 70s where gas prices were so high that people were living in their cars and not driving them. RFSL (8:21:07 PM): But that was that other movie. Tenlons F (8:21:18 PM): fuck the lottery, i mean i love it, but i wont let it control my life Tenlons F (8:21:40 PM): BUT U SHOULD REMAKE THAT one, write it now. next week u could make a million bucks. its LA remember RFSL (8:22:22 PM): So let me ask you: What are you listening to these days? Tenlons F (8:22:56 PM): joy division and metallica (the first 4 records and the new one) Tenlons F (8:23:37 PM): for about a month that’s been it, besides tenlons fort. AL JAMES from DOLOREAN Tenlons F (8:23:52 PM): got a new batch, he’s a bad ass and a gentle soul Tenlons F (8:24:18 PM): that hasn’t got his greatness article, but he will. Stay inspired and growing AL.xo Tenlons F (8:24:27 PM): CASTLEDOOR, AMNION, Tenlons F (8:24:36 PM): usually friends music Tenlons F (8:24:45 PM): BROTHERS and SISTERS from AUSTIN Tenlons F (8:24:52 PM): great band and dear friends Tenlons F (8:25:02 PM): Damien Jurado Tenlons F (8:25:25 PM): like when i was in europe, the fans would say.. oh Damien "Ohhh what a voice...." Tenlons F (8:25:37 PM): "Elliott Smith ... Oh what a voice" Tenlons F (8:25:43 PM): they were so passionate Tenlons F (8:26:23 PM): im lucky that my musical and film tastes, are wide im mean really wide...... i can get into just about anything Tenlons F (8:27:06 PM): PEE WEES Big adventure this saturday @ Hollywood Forever Cemetery sounds amazing RFSL (8:27:17 PM): Yeah, I saw it there a few years back and it was madcap. RFSL (8:27:34 PM): That and Over The Edge and Repo Man were the best. Tenlons F (8:28:15 PM): i didnt know until yesterday that it was a huge event, or that movies there were such huge events, but its packed every time i think???? Tenlons F (8:28:51 PM): i just hope im there , the night the Zombies come up from the crowd and try to get people popcorn RFSL (8:28:54 PM): Yeah, you need to get there fucking early. RFSL (8:29:19 PM): It's a traffic and people jam of titanic proportions. Tenlons F (8:29:42 PM): i can walk there from my old place, and my current couch Tenlons F (8:29:52 PM): 10 min walk, i love LA walking Tenlons F (8:29:57 PM): the lost art RFSL (8:30:06 PM): Me as well. Tenlons F (8:30:34 PM): cant Radio Free help get the subway to run from Hollywood to the Beach Tenlons F (8:30:42 PM): u got pull right??? RFSL (8:31:35 PM): I'm afraid I'm as useful as a box of rocks when it comes to local politics. Tenlons F (8:32:19 PM): me too.
Thursday, March 12
- Plants & Animals, Castledoor, Avi Buffalo @ The Echo
- Bodies of Water, Lake, Fol Chen @ Echo Curio
- Horse Stories, Leopold and His Fiction, Jenny O. @ HOME
- Sara Bareilles, Tony Lucca @ Hotel Cafe
- De La Soul @ The Key Club
- Sara and Sean Watkins @ Largo
- Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Tim Eriksen Shape-Note Extravaganza @ The Troubadour
- Thee Oh Sees, The Fresh & Onlys, Bipolar Bear, Private Beach @ The Smell
- Or, the Whale, Willoughby, Foundry Field Recordings @ The Silver Lake Lounge
- Cursive, Modern Memory @ Spaceland
- Yelle, We Are the World, Casxio @ The El Rey Theatre
- Free Moral Agents @ The Air Conditioned Lounge (Venice)
Friday, March 13
- Mouse's B-day Extravaganza w/ Manhattan Murder Mystery, The Besties, & Mystery Guest (plus DJ set by Squaregirl Marion) @ Pehrspace
- Exposure Photography Show w/ Works by Ben Hoste, Jeff Koga, & Simon Cardoza w/ Meiko, Adeline, & Evan Way @ WHERE Space
- Say Hi @ The Echo
- Gram Rabbit, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Crooked Cowboy @ Echoplex
- Cursive, Ladyfinger, Little Brazil @ The Troubadour
- Sara Bareilles, Tony Lucca @ Hotel Cafe
- Ben Weasel, Toys That Kill, Underground Railroad to Candyland, The Girls @ The Knitting Factory
- Lady Gaga, Chester French, The White Tie Affair @ The Wiltern
- The Twelves, Gina Turner, Little Red Radio, Destructo, Mr. White @ Avalon
- Tindersticks, Spain @ The Henry Fonda Music Box
- Casxio, The Nights @ HOME
- Jon Brion @ Largo
- Minmae, John Vecciarelli, Azalia Snail @ Echo Curio
- Purple Rhinestone Eagle, Meho Plaza, Forever, Tacocat @ L'KEG
- Richard Swift, We Barbarians, Dappled Cities @ Spaceland
Saturday, March 14
- The New Standards, The Fresh, Katie Costello, Sean Kelly, Ryan Calhoun @ Hotel Cafe
- Asobi Seksu, Bell, Resplandor @ The Troubadour
- Phosphorescent, Viva Voce, The Donkeys, Rafter @ The Regent
- Ben Weasel, Toys That Kill, Underground Railroad to Candyland, The Girls @ The Knitting Factory
- Rickie Lee Jones @ Largo
- The Bird and the Bee, Haim, The Damn Sons, Post-Foetus @ Tricot Showroom
- The Von Bondies, Nico Vega, The Pink Snowflakes @ The Roxy
- El Ten Eleven @ HOME
- Franklin for Short, Moses Campbell, Enid the Dowl, No Paws (No Lions) @ Echo Curio
- Miami Horror, Danger, Futurecop! featuring Short Circuit & The Kids Are Radioactive @ Echoplex
- Sky Larkin @ Spaceland
- Smegma, Aaron Dilloway, Joe & Joe, Allen Pyle, Pigs in the Ground, Pod Blotz @ The Smell
- The Monolators, Roman Candles, Audacity, Jonesin' @ L'KEG
- Space Mtn, Light FM, Divisadero, Siggy @ Silver Factory Studios
Sunday, March 15
- Zee Avi, Luke Top, Michael Rosa (of Satisfaction) @ Spaceland
- Alela Diane, Come Gather Round Us, Josh Pyke @ Hotel Cafe
- These Are Powers @ The Echo
- Former Ghosts, Infinite Body, Felt Drawings, Amir Coyle, Knight Rider @ The Smell
- Australian All Ages BBQ w/ My Disco, The Drones, Dappled Cities, Red Riders, The Fumes, The Boat People, Leone Carmen, The Art, Hell City Glamours @ The Echo
- Part Time Punks w/ These Are Powers, Death Sentence: PANDA! @ The Echo
Monday, March 16
- Great Northern, O+S, Electrocute @ The Silver Lake Lounge
- Jennifer Gail, James Harries, Jeremiah James @ Hotel Cafe
- Primal Scream, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Red Cortez @ Club Nokia
- Simian Mobile Disco @ The Henry Fonda Music Box
- Mad Happy, French Quarter, Hell-Kite, The Seizure, Hello My Name Is Red @ Pehrspace
- Meg Baird, Lucky Dragons, Kurt Vile @ Echo Curio
- Mika Miko, Clipd Beaks, Lovvers, Megawand @ The Smell
- Larytta, Girls, Hecuba, Nosaj Thing @ Echoplex
- MSTRKRFT (record release party) @ The Roxy
- The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Shane Alexander @ The Troubadour
- Nico Stai, Youth Group, Josh Pyke @ Spaceland (FREE)
- Wait.Think.Fast., VOICEsVOICEs, Dame Satan, The Late Birds @ The Echo (FREE)
Wednesday, March 18
- ISGOODMUSIC & Radio Free Silver Lake Present Nightfur CD Release Party w/ Old Toy Trains & The Breakups @ The Silver Lake Lounge
Friday, March 20
- Exposure Photography Show w/ Works by Ben Hoste, Jeff Koga, & Simon Cardoza w/ The Gena Rowlands Band, The Movies, & Ema and The Ghosts @ WHERE space
Sunday, March 22
- Jaguar Love & Thriller Party @ Space 15 Twenty
- The Library @ Cinespace
Saturday, March 28
- The Library @ Bardot
Sunday, April 5th
- Pam Shaffer CD Release Party @ Echo Curio
Friday, April 10
- Jack Wilson, Jr, Correatown, Amateurs, & Marvelous Toy @ Pehrspace
Thursday, April 30
- The World Record, Jack Wilson, Jr, & Les Blanks @ Echo Curio
