Nosaj Thing wows the crowd at Coachella.
This is later than late, but better than never. The Spin Magazine fellers definitely know a good thing when it bludgeons them over the head with experimental beatwork, then nurses them back to health with a warm, enveloping beauty. That, combined with my incessant badgering, resulted in a gallery highlighting some of the Los Angeles electronic talent that made it out to Coachella 2011.
Flying Lotus contemplates world domination.
Quick bloggy bits from around the L.A. underground (and up). Share ’em.
(all stories via West Coast Sound, via LA Weekly)
* “We’re trying to make people levitate. You won’t know where the floor is.” — Daddy Kev
Madlib at work.
L.A. news roundup: For no particular reason other than the Los Angeles beat scene’s own prolific nature and commitment to excellence (Glitch Mob excepting), every single one of my news items for LA Weekly‘s West Coast Sound last week concerned our hometown digital heroes.
* “Is this why the Glitch Mob weaseled out of its handshake contract with Alpha Pup, effectively leaving Low End Theory behind for good? To divine advanced methods of stylish douchebaggery?”
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'
It’s hard to know where to start with this one. At the end of the day, you could be the proud owner of: a DVD of the Secondhand Sureshots documentary (to be explained); a 12-inch picture disc featuring music by Daedelus, J-Rocc, Nobody, Ras G, and Kutmah; which itself comes packaged inside of a one-of-a-kind hand-screened LP sleeve; plus two slipmats. And all of that looks like this:
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Click below for the explanation, an MP3, a video clip, and purchase info…
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.
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.
Chris Writes Things 