Alert: confessional time. (Isn’t that what blogs are for? No, silly, that’s what they were for in the early aughts.) The A.V. Club is, um, blessed with a very, er, active readership. Check out the comments sections on my reviews for a glimpse into their troll-like wonderful ways. They also get to ask us questions, which is really great, and a recent query sent us flipping back through our memories to find one of our “best shared cultural experiences.” Lots of great answers over here.
Tag: The Smell
L.A. Upcoming: MGMT, Bugs Bunny at the Bowl, Gaslight Anthem, Tearist and Hawnay Troof
A list of recommended L.A.-area shows for the coming week (plus clips for instant gratification). Click “details” for descriptions. More after the jump.
- Region: Griffith Park
Music: MGMT
Vitals: The Greek Theatre on Friday, July 16
(details at L.A. Weekly)
News: New Abe Vigoda Song, We Are the World Video, Plus Baths, What Laura Says, Big Search
Quick bloggy bits from around the L.A. underground (and up). Share ’em.
- FEATURED: Abe Vigoda Goes All ’80s On New ‘Crush’ LP*
- Baths Guest for Fol Chen Record Release at The Echo
- We Are the World channel Manson in New Video
- ‘Lambhair McDaniel,’ by Devendra Banhart Favorite
- Popieluch of Foreign Born and Fool’s Gold as Big Search
(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.”
First Listen: White Squalls and Whiteboy Blues on No Age’s Third LP ‘Everything in Between’
No Age, Everything In Between (Sub Pop)

No Age, trash can royalty
No Age returns, king of the L.A. noise scene, with a new album powered by an unshakable pulse. We got an early shot to divine meaning from the 13-song platter — and what we discovered didn’t disappoint.
(via L.A. Weekly)
News Roundup: L.A. Declares ‘Dio Day,’ Madlib Goes Psych-Rock, plus Salem and Tobacco
Quick bloggy bits from around the L.A. underground (and up). Share ’em.
- FEATURED: City Declares May 30 ‘Ronnie James Dio Day’*
- Madlib Goes Psych-Rock on New ‘Brain Wreck’ LP
- Salem Signs to IAMSOUND, Reveals ‘King Night’ Details
- MP3 Exclusive: Tobacco Remixes HEALTH’s ‘Die Slow’
(all stories via West Coast Sound, via LA Weekly)
* “Naturally, the prepared statement delivered at Dio’s memorial was greeted with rabid cheers and a strong showing of devil horns.”
LA Upcoming: Caribou, Massive Attack, Jonathan Richman at The Smell
A list of recommended L.A.-area shows for the coming week (plus clips for instant gratification). Click “details” for descriptions. More after the jump.
- Region: Miracle Mile
Music: Caribou
Vitals: El Rey on Wednesday, May 19
(details at LA Weekly)
LA Upcoming: Kimya Dawson, Your Heart Breaks + Angelo Spencer; Zola Jesus…
A short list of recommended L.A.-area shows for the coming week (plus videos for instant gratification). Click “details” for descriptions.
- Region: Downtown
Music: Kimya Dawson, Your Heart Breaks + Angelo Spencer
Vitals: The Smell on Thursday, January 14
(details at LA Weekly)
- Region: Downtown
Music: Zola Jesus, Pocahaunted + Sissy Spacek
Vitals: The Smell on Sunday, January 10
(details at LA Weekly)
Recommended Rocking: Imogen Heap, HEALTH + Abe Vigoda, and Fuck Buttons
A short list of recommended L.A.-area shows for the coming week (plus videos for instant gratification). Click “details” for descriptions.
- Region: Hollywood
Music: Imogen Heap
Vitals: Henry Fonda Theater on Monday, November 9
(details at LA Weekly)
L.A. Experiential: These Arms Are Snakes, Signals, DD/MM/YYY (also: Breakestra, Mem1)
If you live in/around the L.A. area, seriously consider attending this:
- Region: Downtown
Music: These Arms Are Snakes, DD/MM/YYY, Signals
Vitals: The Smell on Tuesday, October 13
(details at LA Weekly).
Also, for posterity’s sake, here’s a link to a “lost” preview of last week’s Breakestra record release show (along with text on a Mem1/Swiss minimalist electronics night). Like the above entry, the text was included in the “Rock Picks” post, but not added to the independent entry. I suspect gaslighting. Mark Cetilia of Mem1 was an instrumental help on the “Bend Everything” piece.
Best Of L.A.: Vinyl, Cassettes, Music Tees, The Smell, Build-Yr-Own Instruments and More
The LA Weekly‘s annual “Best Of” issue is on stands now — in theory at least, they usually disappear pretty quickly. But whether you’re in-town or out, near the paper product or not, you can read all about our favorite things (300 of them) here. I contributed a handful of writeups on local people and places that I hold dear, all music-skewed of course, and you can go direct to each below.
More after the jump.
- Best Build-It-Yourself Workshop: Machine Project
(read more in “Bend Everything“)