Conrad Keely vs. Jason Reece
Face it, music fans. …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead will just never — never — be what they once were. Source Tags & Codes is, excuse my french, a simply unfuckwittable album. A cornerstone of the “indie rock” canon. And everything since has been … alright. So there’s a new record out. It’s their umpteenth. And it mostly disappoints but for one, incredibly key exception. See what it is via my review at the A.V. Club.
The new album from L.A.’s The Happy Hollows is due out in October, but you can hear it now. Listen, download and learn here (via LA Weekly). The piece includes a bit of band trivia as well. An older song:
Ladies and gentlemen: INCHES003. By journalistic law, this column now qualifies as a trend. Installment number three is actually the first “regular” edition, an unthemed collection of just-released L.A.-relevant vinyl reviewed (with original photos and free MP3s, of course), accompanied by a top ten vinyl sales chart from one of our local record shops. This week, you’ll find a new Flying Lotus EP, some incredible throwback bossa nova by Triorganico, seven inches of Adam Payne jamitude, and a killer Dublab release compiling work from the best of this city’s beat music scene. Plus, see what Vacation Vinyl’s been selling (hint: rhymes with “meth kettle”).
Flying Lotus, "L.A. 3 X 3 EP"
Stay tuned for much, much more, and if you’ve got ideas, reach out.
Highland Park’s Fol Chen crew has just leaked a free digital “album” (collected remixes and such) via Asthmatic Kitty. Read more, and download the music, here (via LA Weekly). But first, a video:
I’m exceedingly proud to announce the debut of my new weekly vinyl column, “INCHES” on the LA Weekly music blog, West Coast Sound. The full title of the inaugural installment is “INCHES001: Local revolutions, pt.1 — five L.A. vinyl exclusives revealed and reviewed.”
This edition features five releases by L.A.-area artists on L.A.-area labels — Mika Miko (PPM), Xasthur (Hydra Head), RxBandits (Sargent House), Castledoor (Seven Inch Project), and Shafiq (Poo-Bah) — that either are not available on CD, or sport a drool-worthy design. A free MP3 accompanies each writeup, along with a photo of the package shot, for better or for worse, by yours truly.
Mika Miko's We Be Xuxa (PPM)
Future installments will include up-to-date reviews of wax by L.A. artists and/or L.A. imprints, profiles on local vinyl shops and labels, cratedigger-curated selections, swap meet outings, and whatever else seems like a good idea at the time. If you haven’t clicked over there already, please do so here.
The LA Weekly runs an exceptionally solid music blog called West Coast Sound. I’ve contributed little bits in the past (Coachella coverage, and this Snoop Dogg thing), but in conjunction with WCS stepping up its coverage yet further, I’ll soon be contributing weekly. Expect breaking news, brief interviews and the occasional wry note on my usual musical obsessions (peep the Tag Cloud, yo).
Today’s posting is somewhat old news, but odd news nonetheless:
Chris Writes Things 