Tonight (My Birthday!) at Spaceland: Henry Clay People, Local Natives, Fun., Aushua

True, it's purely a coincidence that my birthday is the same day as this spectacular show, but when you can see both Local Natives and The Henry Clay People at Spaceland on your birthday (and for free) the stars have truly aligned.

And that doesn't even include Fun., which features Nate Ruess of The Format and Jack from Steel Train. They've sold out the Mercury Lounge (NYC) and Schuba's (Chicago) dates on their current tour. And Aushua is supposed to be great also. I am very excited.

Local Natives on at 11, Henry Clay at 10. Fun and Aushua keep the candle burning on both ends (9pm and Midnight, not necessarily respectively). You best get there early.

Sunday at the Silent Movie Theatre: The Bear with LIVE SCORE by No Age

On Sunday at the Silent Movie Theatre on Melrose and Fairfax is screening the movie The Bear. No Age will be performing a live, original score over the "near-wordless" movie. It should be quite an experience, and the Theatre knows it has something big on its hands -- there's both an 8pm and 10:30pm screening.

From the Silent Movie Theatre's description:

L.A.-based, world-renowned experimental noise pop duo No Age will appear live at the Cinefamily to perform their brand-new score for Jean-Jacques Annaud's majestic 1988 film The Bear, a near-wordless cinematic expedition deep into the savagery and tenderness of the animal kingdom. Told from the titular species' point of view, The Bear chronicles the journey of an orphan bear cub and a lone adult bear banding together to avoid two human hunters. Along the way, director Annaud has great fun with the storytelling possibilities from a non-human perspective, including dream sequences and an unforgettable psychdelic mushroom bear trip! With nearly no (human) dialogue, the film easily lends itself to live scoring, and No Age drummer Dean Spunt and guitarist Randy Randall have crafted a shimmering 90-minute set of sonic blasts and delicate textures that perfectly complement the peculiar, touching and altogether unique experience that is The Bear.

See you Sunday at 8. Here's the trailer for "The Bear:"

The Jakes Sign to Roadrunner Records

A big congratulations (and good luck) to The Jakes, who have signed with Roadrunner Records, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. The band has long been represented by Serling Rooks & Ferrara, a very experienced music law firm located in Union Square in Manhattan.

Signing with a major is not always the best step a band can take (there's no need to recount the numerous tales of successful indie bands who fall on their faces once they jump to a major, or the tales of those who join a major and are then forgotten) and the move is especially interesting in today's climate, where the importance of record labels is fading fast. Nonetheless, hopefully these words from The Jakes regarding their signing turn out to be accurate:

After six months of deliberation and lawyer babble (respectfully, Reid, Mike and David) we have finally signed a record deal with Roadrunner Records, a branch of the Warner tree. To those of you acquainted with Roadrunner’s illustrious past, our signing might come as a bit of a surprise. After decades of multi-platinum success with Music’s rough heavy metal greats such as Megadeth, Dream Theatre, and most recently, Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, and radio titan Nickelback, one may beg the question; why The Jakes? What do we have that likens us to such metal-mongers? The answer is—nothing! A new approach from within Roadrunner A&R department has quelled the steep desire to tread a new musical path in the road of modern “indie” rock, and although such a classification is always ambiguous, it is clear that Roadrunner has no intentions of likening us to their heavy-metal, or contemporary greats. On the contrary, Roadrunner will provide us with a unique blend of artistic license and indie label coziness with Major-label professionalism and distribution, and is unafraid to take the path of innovation. Most importantly, Roadrunner is very passionate about us, and has accepted us into their tight knit family. We are excited to see the products of our pairing, and are looking forward to see our relationship grow. ​

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=4100845&blogId=507415421

The band also announced that keyboardist Ehson Hashemian is no longer with the band. I really enjoyed his live energy.

The Jakes are currently writing their new album. Their next show is at Spaceland on September 7, where they open the first night of Saint Motel's residency. To my knowledge, it's the band's first ever show at Spaceland (and perhaps their first ever in Silverlake/Echo Park). I will undoubtedly be in attendance.

It's Friday the 14th: Rock 'N Roll Circus Tonight!

I don't think it's possible to be excited enough for tonight's guaranteed blockbuster at the Echoplex. Here's the details with set times:

Main Stage

Henry Clay People (11pm)
Fol Chen (10pm)
Flying Tourbillon Orchestra (9:15 pm)
Marvelous Toy (8:30 pm)

Acoustic Side Stage (in between acts on the main stage, which means non-stop music)

Roadside Graves (between Fol Chen and HCP)
Les Blanks (between FTO and Fol Chen)
Downtown/Union (between Marvelous Toy and FTO)
The Damselles (between Marvelous Toy and FTO)

Icing on the Cake

Skeeball
Balloon Animals
Face Painting
Mimes
Free Cotton Candy
Free Sno-cones
Free mix CD of all the bands if you come wearing a mustache, wear a clown costume or show up in other circus attire (for the first 100 people)
Only $10 to get in

Band to Watch: My First Earthquake

My First Earthquake hails from San Francisco. They're a female-fronted band that Allmusic.com describes as "bold, synth-riddled indie pop." Think an Americanized version of The Sounds. Or don't think and just listen:

"Cool in the Cool Way"



"Outta the Band"

Fitz & The Tantrums' EP -- Streaming Right Here

Future Sounds Records released Fitz & The Tantrums' EP, "Songs For a Breakup, Vol. 1" today (although it's been available on Rhapsody for months). As part of the release, FS created an embeddable player that streams the entire five song EP. Here it is:

Fitz's next show is next Wednesday, August 19 at the Troubadour with Kenan Bell, U-N-I, and more. At $5 a ticket there's no reason to miss it. I'm looking forward to finally seeing these guys.

Yours Truly Guest DJ-ing at Ask Noogle

Check it out. 5 music videos hand selected by me. I'd tell you what they are, but then you wouldn't click the link:

http://asknoogle.blogspot.com/2009/08/81009dj-josh-fucking-karp-stepping-in.html

What 2 Go 2: August 10 - 15

W2G2 is back, at least for this week. If this is not the week I get my going-to-too-many-shows momentum back, then nothing will. There's at least one show worth attending every day.

Monday: Local Natives, Red Cortez, and Rademacher @ Spaceland. Get there early; this one is going to be packed, and waiting on line in front of Spaceland is no fun.

Tuesday: Tic Tic Boom! @ Spaceland. Very promising band.

• Reasonable alternative #1: The Voyeurs video release show at the Echo. I've never heard of a video release show, but the trailer for the Voyeurs' video is impressive, and the Voyeurs are great live. Here's the trailer:
  

• Guilty pleasure alternative: Cobra Starship at the Troubadour. Sold out, but if you got tickets you're going to have a lot of fun.

Wednesday: Olin & The Moon at Pershing Square. Free outdoor concert in the middle of downtown.

Thursday: Great Northern, Xu Xu Fang and Obi Best @ The Bootleg Theatre. This is a Pablove benefit show. Ryan from Divison Day is "playing" a "DJ set."

• I don't get the "DJ sets" thing. So someone puts a bunch of songs on an iPod, plugs it into the venue's soundsystem, and presses play? Sounds awesome. Is anyone even listening?
  

Friday: Rock 'N Roll Circus! Finally a Henry Clay People show at a reasonable venue (the Wiltern is not a reasonable venue), and I finally get to see Fol Chen, The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra's new lineup, and Downtown/Union. There's going to be Skeeball, Sno-cones and Cotton Candy, too.

Saturday: Tough choice tonight

• Option 1: Nico Stai plays with a full band at the opening of the new Ghettogloss Gallery. Full details have not been announced yet.
  

• Option 2: The World Record and Le Switch at Spaceland. Roadside Graves are also playing. They're from Metuchen, New Jersey. Got to love that.
  

Olin & The Moon Update: Free Downloads, New Video, and Upcoming Show(s)

So, what's been going on with CER Favorites Olin & The Moon? Glad you asked.

First, the band has a free EP for you to download when you sign up for their mailing list. The track listing:

1. Terrible Town
2. Wagon Wheel
3. Drivin' West
4. Friend of Feeling Good
5. Footsteps (unreleased)

You can sign up for their mailing list and grab the songs right here. I highly recommend you do so.

Also, about a month ago the band released a video for "Terrible Town" which features footage from their West Coast tour with fellow local alt-country band Leslie & The Badgers.



Finally, Olin & The Moon is playing at Pershing Square in downtown LA next Wednesday. It's hard to imagine a more pleasant summer evening.


And while it's not confirmed yet, I'm sure they'll be playing at the Echo one Monday in September in support of Leslie & The Badgers' September residency. That's a one-two punch that should not be missed.

Fanfarlo's First Ever U.S. Tour

Fanfarlo has announced the dates for its first, but very short, U.S. tour in September. Don't miss them. Seriously. If you're in LA or New York you've got two chances each, so there's no excuse.

September 14 - Chop Suey, Seattle

September 15 -- Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA

September 16 -- The Echo, Los Angeles

September 17 -- Popscene, San Francisco

September 20 -- Kungfu Necktie, Philadelphia

September 21 -- Bowery Ballroom, New York

September 22 -- The Bell House, Brooklyn, New York


Here's their video for "Harold T. Wilkins."




Related Posts:

U.K. Artist to Watch: Fanfarlo

August Highlights

August is going to be a spectacular month. Let me count the ways . . .

#1) Sunset Junction: August 22 and 23. Seeing Arrested Development will be worth the price of admission ($15/day in advance), but then there's also Local Natives, Nico Vega, The Submarines, Conor Oberst, Nico Stai, and Fool's Gold, among others.



#2) Local Natives Residency (especially the August 10 date). It's Local Natives' month; we're just living in it. They've got six LA shows this month: 5 Mondays at Spaceland and the first day of Sunset Junction.



#3) Rock 'N Roll Summer Circus at the Echoplex. This is going to be great. To start, it's Henry Clay's first "small" LA show since their April residency, but there's so much more. From THCP's myspace description:

w/ FOL CHEN, FLYING TOURBILLON ORCHESTRA, MARVELOUS TOY --- "Side Show Acoustic Performers": Damselles/TC4, Balloon Bass, Roadside Graves, Les Blanks, Downtown/Union, Oof Tarted, Banjo-vi, and Eli Monolator. Cotton Candy, Games (Skeeball!), Balloon Animals, Face Painting, Moustaches, Mimes, and MORE