Tag: Not Not Fun

Feature: 12 L.A. Indie Labels You Should Know — from Sargent House to Anticon to Southern Lord to Dangerbird to IAMSOUND and more …

Dean Spunt on the skins, No Age drummer and PPM Records owner

It’s awesome time in L.A., people. Either get on the Good News train or get left behind. Music, frankly, is great — always has been, but when so much great music exists in one’s own backyard, when the people responsible for tending the flame all seem to gather within the same ten-mile stretch, when there’s no shortage of good ideas or good tunes, well, a person is likely to get real happy and start writing silly things like this.

Far less silly, and actually quite informative, is “Twelve Indie Labels You Should Know, a Primer” (I say “prymer,” please don’t say “primmer”) which is on the L.A. Times blog, Pop & Hiss, right now, as I type. This piece is the culmination of a three-parter. Read the Sunday print feature, “L.A.’s Indie Labels Succeed with a Jack-of-All-Trades Approach,” if you please. And find a supplemental piece (with a choice MP3) over yonder.

Feature: Los Angeles’ String of Indie Labels Thrives in the New Music Business

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

INCHES reviews new vinyl from Ascend, Blank Realm, Active Child, Ernest Gonzales [MP3s]

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At last! A brand new installment of INCHES, the L.A.-centric vinyl column that’s now numerous feet — no, yards — into its long-playing legacy. It’s a damn ripe time for independent music in Southern California, and this, friends, is your undeniable mainline. Inside, you’ll get your chillwave fix, your dose of droning doom, some spiraling psych and some fuzzy folktronica. Nothing to scoff at, and free MP3s from each. Plus words! And pictures!

Active Child, 'She Was A Vision'

LA Upcoming: Sun Araw, Airborne Toxic Event

A short list of recommended L.A.-area shows for the coming week (plus videos for instant gratification). Click “details” for descriptions.

  • Region: Echo Park
    Music: Sun Araw, David Scott Stone, Vaginals + Talibam!
    Vitals: Echo Curio on Monday, January 25
    (details at LA Weekly)
  • Region: West Hollywood
    Music: The Airborne Toxic Event + Aushua
    Vitals:     The Troubadour on Wednesday, January 27
    (details at LA Weekly)

INCHES reviews ‘Secondhand Sureshots,’ Oxbow, Red Sparowes, Topaz Rags (MP3s)

It’s true. Four more primes slabs of virgin wax from L.A.’s extremely fertile independent music scene. Among this week’s crop are my favorite release of the year, the Dublab super-project Secondhand Sureshots, some rabid avant blues courtesy of Oxbow (Hydra Head’s return to the column!), another dreamy psych offering from the kids at Not Not Fun (Topaz Rags), and some post-rock tastiness from Red Sparowes (on Sargent House).

Oxbow, 'Songs For The French'

INCHES011: New Wax from Fool’s Gold, Inca Ore, Now-Again (Rare Psych!), Samiyam (MP3s, chart)

Friends, INCHES011 exists. Featuring fresh wax from L.A.’s favorite Eritrean-Hebrew Afrobeat outfit, Fool’s Gold, a limited 10-inch platter from beat music maker Samiyam (via Poo-Bah Records), some experimental goodness from the Not Not Fun label (SF’s Inca Ore), and an incredible international psych/funk/rock/soul comp put together by Stones Throw general manager, Eothen “Egon” Alapatt. Can I get a Twit-ness?

Egons Forge Your Own Chains: Heavy Psychedelic Ballads And Dirges, 1968 - 1974

Egon's "Forge Your Own Chains: Heavy Psychedelic Ballads And Dirges"

INCHES005: New Wax from The Mars Volta, Glasser, Wet Hair, Kissing Cousins (+ MP3s, video, chart)

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Man alive, it’s number five! The West Coast Sound vinyl column rings in a brand new prime number with INCHES005, featuring some truly glorious wax courtesy of The Mars Volta (Rodriguez-Lopez Productions), Glasser (True Panther Sounds), Kissing Cousins (Velvet Blue Music), and Wet Hair (Not Not Fun).

Wet Hair, Glass Fountain

Wet Hair, "Glass Fountain"

Also inside: trippy video of the Glasser 12-inch package being assembled, free music to download, and a fresh top-ten from Vacation Vinyl.