Big Search, laying in the grass. It's a gas.
Foreign Born singer and Fools Gold sideman Matt Popieluch has gone solo as Big Search. He made a piece of vinyl that you should own. He also made this list for the L.A. Weekly blog, compiling his very own list of favorite solo endeavors from other dudes from other bands that you already know.
Big Search, the new project from Foreign Born singer and Fool’s Gold guitarist Matt Popieluch, performs TONIGHT at the Downtown Independent along with a screening of The Scenesters film and a set from Sweaters. Tickets are available here, and for an extra $5 at the door, you can come back to tomorrow night’s show (the Franks + Lord Huron).
In honor of that, we’ve gotten our hands on some excellent clips of Big Search playing Spaceland last month. Check out “In the Morning Room, I Saw,” below, and a handful of others after the jump.
In honor of the seven-night, 14-band spectacular going down at the Downtown Independent in honor of The Scenesters screening, we’ve got an album’s worth of songs for you — one from every artist on the bill.
Tickets here. Or, pay $15 at the venue to come back all week.
DOWNLOAD: The Scenesters Run L.A., the Album [zip file]
Or, here: via Mediafire.
Stream the entire thing after the jump.
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!
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:
The Scenesters Run LA: 14 bands, 4 dead hipsters, 1 hilarious whodunnit.
14 bands, 4 dead hipsters, 1 hilarious whodunnit.
>>BUY TICKETS HERE<<
>>LISTEN TO THE BANDS<<
FOR AN EXTRA $5 AT THE DOOR, COME BACK ALL WEEK!
The Vacationeers and Funny Ha Ha (music journalist Chris Martins) are proud to announce the lineup for a week-long film + music series at Los Angeles’ Downtown Independent theater starting Friday, August 20.
We’re dubbing the event “The Scenesters Run L.A.” because: one, this is the seven-night theatrical run of the award-winning film, The Scenesters, a music-inspired black comedy/murder mocumentary set in Silver Lake; and two, the talent amassed for this 14-artist bill does, indeed, run L.A.
Both L.A. Times and L.A. Weekly have previewed the event, giving away exclusive MP3s from bands set to attend (Spirit Animal and PAPA, respectively). They also shared the news that rising L.A. beat scene star Baths is Sunday’s secret headliner.
Each night, the film voted “Best Comedy” of the Hollywood Film Festival and “Most Interesting” of Slamdance will show at 8:00 p.m., followed by two live performances — from acts as diverse as the Franks, Captain Ahab, Glamorous Pukes (members of the Airborne Toxic Event and M83), Jeans Wilder, Le Switch, Big Search (Matt Popieluch of Foreign Born), and many more, including secret special guests.
Tickets to see both the film and the music are $10 and can be purchased in advance through the Downtown Independent’s website. A handful of the bands are actually featured in the film, and many plan to use the setting to their advantage, which means a big-screen audio-visual feast.
WATCH THE TRAILER ON YOUTUBE
RSVP TO THE EVENT ON FACEBOOK
The full schedule:
DAY 1: FRIDAY, AUGUST 20
A secret special guest of the funkiest persuasion (hint: IT’S WALLPAPER!) headlines with support from Sister Mantos, lo-fi mutant disco from the City of Angeles. Expect video galore.
DAY 2: SATURDAY, AUGUST 21
Spirit Animal, the band fronted by former rapper and epicurean blogger Gray Kid, bring the live soul, while Le Switch — who’s name ties into one of the film’s murders — specialize in loud folk and earnest indie rock.
DAY 3: SUNDAY, AUGUST 22
San Diego’s sun-damaged tropical chillwave beacon Jeans Wilder opens for L.A. beat scene star Baths, who will be playing from his nothing short of mind-blowing Anticon Records debut, Cerulean.
DAY 4: MONDAY, AUGUST 23
Slang Chickens, of Los Angeles, provide the garage rock grind and some purty folksy notes, while their cross-coastal brother band (literally) New York’s PAPA grace us with some epic-flavored mini anthems.
DAY 5: TUESDAY, AUGUST 24
The insane two-man techno-rap wrecking crew Captain Ahab headline. Meanwhile, an all-star lineup of the country-western Misfits cover band Glamorous Pukes will feature members of the Airborne Toxic Event, M83, Mariachi El Bronx, Learning Music, Saul Williams’ band and more.
DAY 6: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25
Foreign Born singer and Fools Gold guitarist Matt Popieluch makes hi-fi layered bedroom folk as Big Search. With a secret special guest SWEATERS, who hail from L.A.’s storied underground.
DAY 7: THURSDAY, AUGUST 26
Show-stoppers The Franks present a ripping array of raw, hook-laden econo jams, and Lord Huron sound something like Paul Simon on glo-fi drugs singing inside of My Morning Jacket’s grain silo.
Big Search's Matt Popieluch -- another Scenesters victim?
The Vacationeers and Funny Ha Ha are tickled totally pink to announce the second fully confirmed night in the week-long The Scenesters film + music series taking place at L.A.’s Downtown Independent theater in late August.
Yesterday, we shored up the event’s closing night — Thursday, August 26, featuring The Franks and Lord Huron — and it seems we’re working our way backward. The lineup for Wednesday, August 25, has been decided, though due to our proximity (time-wise) to Sunset Junction, not all of it can be told. You like mysteries, right?
Never fear, the headliner should be enough to wet your whistle. The estimable Big Search — a.k.a. Matt Popieluch, Foreign Born frontman and Fool’s Gold ax-slinger — will bring a wrecking crew with him to convert his hi-fi layered bedroom folk into a full-blown live affair.
Keep your eyes on this page for information on the opener, a rising local band whose involvement makes us feel inexplicably fuzzy and warm.
Listen to “Flyer’s Fall” by Big Search:
Abe Vigoda, not throwing shade
Quick bloggy bits from around the L.A. underground (and up). Share ’em.
(all stories via West Coast Sound, via L.A. Weekly)
* The press release for Crush promises “glassy shards of ‘cold wave’ pop, with synthesisers, sequencers and altogether broodier beats.”
Aloe Blacc puts a soul spin on "Femme Fatale"
We’re getting caught up on two weeks of intense blogging for West Coast Sound. These posts round up covers, versions and remixes (sometimes MP3, sometimes video) worth a good listen.
(all stories via West Coast Sound, via LA Weekly)
* “Blacc’s ’60s soul recreation of ‘Billie Jean’ lends significant gravity to the classic, slowing things down considerably and adding mournful horns to the mix.“
Oh, indeed.
Quick bloggy bits from around the L.A. underground (and up). Share ’em.
(all stories via West Coast Sound, via LA Weekly)
* “Lorn is a beast on the beat machine — a former scratch DJ who clearly spent some time listening to the fathomless rap noir of D-Styles’ classic turntablist docuement, Phantazmagorea.”
Chris Writes Things 