Went on down to San Diego for this special gig — came for L.A. favorites Local Natives, and stayed for newcomer Cramer. Well, she played first, but I would have stayed if I wasn’t already there. (Someone check my math on that.) To find out why, click above. Photos by Woo Juon.
Your head may explode too when you hear 'Gorilla Manor'.
Every year, The A.V. Club rounds up a handful of the albums they skipped over in the preceding 12 months in an attempt to make good, critically speaking. It’s a fun feature — a “sorry we missed you” of sorts — that gives the writers a chance to repitch the records that kept us going through the hard times (like, say, when we had to review Black Eyed Peas’ new one).
Here’s a snippet of my digi-ink on Local Natives’ Gorilla Manor:
At first, L.A.’s Local Natives just looked like a West Coast response to others’ great ideas—a sun-baked indie mash-up as potentially unsatisfying as the raw vegan snack that description makes it sound like …
Uh-oh. Could go anywhere from there. Read more via The A.V. Club.
Local Natives can do serious, but they prefer food fights.
Excitement abounds! My first official Spin feature, small though it may be, is available to read online right now. See it with your own wide eyes. The “Breaking Out” piece on L.A.’s own Local Natives — fine people and finer musicians — will appear in print in the September issue of the magazine.
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.“
L.A.'s Local Natives spreads infectiousness (Ian Witlen)
Dear Bonnaroo, you’ve stolen my heart.
Wait, no, I think I just dropped it in front of the What Stage and the mud swallowed it up along with the thousands of orphaned sandals and pot stashes. (What will the anthropologists think?) But seriously, that was four days of excellent festivalling, and I feel honored to have been a part of the incredibly hard-working Spin team for the duration thereof. Click here to access the magazine’s Bonnaroo 2010 homepage, where you’ll find video, photos and text from the trenches. Specific links to follow.
Here’s the Best and Worst of Day One. Yours truly wrote on the xx, Local Natives and the Dodos. Check out days two, three and four.
Luck Dragons performs, Yoni Wolf looks on.
Quick bloggy bits from around the L.A. underground (and up). Share ’em.
(all stories via West Coast Sound, via LA Weekly)
* The collective’s DJs include some of the city’s best, including artists like Daedelus, Ras G, Dntel, Gaslamp Killer, Nobody, Matthewdavid and Kutmah — the latter of which won’t be able to participate due to a controversial immigration arrest.
Two bits of exciting news from Los Angeles-area music-makers. The first pertains to Avi Buffalo, who I wrote about for the Weekly back in October (and whose first Sub Pop release made it into INCHES). The second comes from up-and-coming L.A. indie label IAMSOUND and involves a ton of great local artists including Nosaj Thing and Ryan Heffington’s We Are The World. Since I’m in a beastly mood, click the linx for the links.
Sub Pop Announces Details of Avi Buffalo LP
IAMSOUND Launches 7-inch Series Ft. Nosaj Thing, Fool's Gold, Edward Sharpe...
A short list of recommended L.A.-area shows for the coming week (plus videos for instant gratification). Click “details” for descriptions.
Chris Writes Things 