Sweaters join "The Scenesters" and Big Search
On Wednesday night, fresh-faced L.A. band Sweaters will join Big Search (Foreign Born singer Matt Popieluch) at the Downtown Independent to celebrate the week-long run of The Scenesters film.
Ten bucks for the evening, or pay $15 any one of the nights for access to a week’s worth of shows and showings. A bargain at twice the price!
The Inglorious Pukes of Noah Harmon (Airborne Toxic Event)
They were the Pukes. Then the Glamorous Pukes. Then the Glorious Pukes. And now, Inglorious Pukes. But who are they really? Kevin Bronson of Buzz Bands L.A. has the scoop, and an MP3 to share.
The [__] Pukes perform at the Downtown Independent theater alongside Captain Ahab on Tuesday, August 24, after The Scenesters screens.
TICKETS HERE. For an extra five bones at the door, come back every night! Pay tonight (Slang Chix and PAPA), get in free tomorrow!
'The Scenesters' comes to the Downtown Independent, $15 for a week of music
Pay an extra $5 at the door tonight on top of the $10 ticket, and come back all week to catch any of the bands, or watch the movie all you want.
Machina Muerte founder Mestizo name-checks Elliott Smith
Quick bloggy bits from around the L.A. underground (and up). Share ’em.
(all stories via West Coast Sound, via L.A. Weekly)
* “Elliott Smith’s death gets a mention — a display of Mestizo’s ability to intertwine classic rap braggadocio with harrowing reality and emotive introspection.”
Amanda and Britt Brown of Eagle Rock indie label Not Not Fun pose for Los Angeles Times (photo by Jay L. Clendenin)
Well, it has been a long, long time coming, but I’m pleased to share my debut pair of links over to the Los Angeles Times. The main feature, which runs in print in Sunday’s Calendar section, profiles the ways in which independent labels in L.A. are adapting to the changing landscape of the music biz. Read about it here:
L.A.’s string of indie labels succeeds with a jack-of-all-trades approach
With noted input from the Dangerbird, Stones Throw, Alpha Pup and Not Not Fun imprints, plus tons of help from folks at Sargent House, Hydra Head, Southern Lord, Anticon, Manimal Vinyl, and Post Present Medium.
Also, there’s a supplemental blog piece to read, featuring a free download of Aloe Blacc’s stunning “I Need a Dollar” here:
Indies in L.A.: Alpha Pup and Not Not Fun talk the thriving L.A. scene
[Note: this is kind of a cheat, as I’m not actually interviewed by the estimable Alex Cohen for this one.]
Great news. KPCC’s Alex Cohen interviewed The Scenesters writer-director-star Todd Berger about his film and the week-long music + film series Funny Ha Ha is presenting, kicking off at the Downtown Independent tonight with performances by Sister Mantos and a funkily inclined guest from the movie’s sound track.
Also awesome: The on-air interview is streaming online, with Cohen’s writeup about the movie AND a MP3 from Lord Huron, a L.A. up-and-comer playing our event along with the Franks on Thursday.
Queens of the Stone Age, kings of the stage
“It’s not hyperbole to say that QOTSA is one of the hardest working live bands in the business. For all their sludge and skronk and stonerishness and strapping machismo, they’re unerringly precise. They’d have to be. Otherwise neither the hulking, off-kilter black anthems of 2007’s Era Vulgaris nor the incredibly dense stuff of 2002 favorite Songs for the Deaf would sound right — raw, mean, anything but lean.”
Last week’s Club Nokia benefit for cancer-stricken Eagles of Death Metal bassist Brian O’Connor was nothing short of phenomenal. Queens played L.A. for the first since 2008. Eagles were excellent. Last Shadow Puppets and Alain Johannes played surprise sets. Read bout it here, via Spin.
A list of recommended L.A.-area shows for the coming week (plus clips for instant gratification). Click “details” for descriptions. More after the jump.
Anna Bulbrook and Noah Harmon of the Airborne Toxic Event cover the Misfits as Glamorous Pukes
Esteemed L.A. music journalist Kevin Bronson, who runs the Buzz Bands L.A. blog as well as writes for everyone in the known universe, spilled some very kind ink on “The Scenesters Run L.A.” series at the Downtown Independent, which he’s dubbed “a mini-festival.”
He also debuted and exclusive MP3 from Glorious Pukes, the country-flavored Misfits cover band playing the event on Tuesday, August 24.
Bronson breaks down the convoluted membership of the group “concocted by the Airborne Toxic Event’s Noah Harmon … [with] a lineup featuring TATE bandmate Anna Bulbrook, M83’s Morgan Kibby and members of Mariachi El Bronx, the Actual, the Fresh and the Naked Banjo Man.”
We at Funny Ha Ha like SoundCloud almost to a fault (we may actually have three free accounts), but our indulgence is your guilt-free gain. In honor of our very own music + film festival (basically) that kicks off THIS FRIDAY at the Downtown Independent, we’ve assembled a playlist featuring music from each of the announced artists on the 14-band bill.
Almost every track can be downloaded, excepting the two offered up via the L.A. Times and L.A. Weekly (links to those here). Dig in:
Also, watch the most recent trailer for The Scenesters, featuring Wallpaper’s “I Got Soul, I’m So Wasted,” after the jump:
Chris Writes Things 