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There aren't many times I wish I was one of those concert bootleggers who stashes state-of-the-art recording equipment, like omni-directional tiny mics in a baseball cap, to record concerts. Last night I wish I had one of those set-ups.
Marc Bianchi was an awfully cute toothache. With a large bass acoustic guitar around his skinny frame he won us all over rocking back and forth, pointy elbows a-soaring. Known for fronting indie band Her Space Holiday he played "The Boys and Girls" a faithful version of the recording under his side project xoxo, panda. He said it was about three people in love and in different parts of the country. Very sweet, indeed.
Inara George from The Bird and the Bee sang for composing legend Van Dyke Parks at the piano. Inara wins best dressed for the night all decked out in a stunning brown floor length gown. They will be releasing an album together later this year and swang a number from it. But it was "Vine Street", the Randy Newman standard favored by Harry Nilsson (they both happen to have been BFFs with Van Dyke Parks) that really had the rest of the artists in a hard act to follow.
Kyp Malone from TV On The Radio concluded with a long meandering experimental set. I was surprised to see the night take a dark turn full of ambient noise. Malone followed Grizzly Bear's front man and anyone who's gone to a Grizzly Bear concert knows how esoteric those boys can get. Malone's anecdotes were candid and real but I think the majority of the crowd had tuned out after the back to back of more famous faces. People started to take off early, in true urban LA fashion.Meredith R. at 11:17
1. "Satan Said Dance" Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - From the album Some Loud Thunder. It's just one of those albums you listen to all the way the through even when you weren't planning on it.


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Labels: environmental, events, freebies, music
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Untitled, 2003 (detail) by Lari Pittman. Acrylic, oil, and aerosol lacquer on gessoed canvas over wood panel. Part of the Eden's Edge exhibit of 15 Los Angeles artists now showing at The Hammer Museum.Meredith R. at 13:32

Night Hawks is honored to bring to the party Laura Escude (Los Angeles) - A classically trained violinist who works with a variety of software, all controlled by MIDI devices such as the UC-33e and a MIDI glove. Found sounds, sampling, and the violin affected by different types of hardware all make up her body of work going back 20 years.
DSS Improv (Los Angeles) is a trio of improvisational electro-acoustic musicians. FM transmitters tie together their mixer feedback sessions, DIY circuitry, amplified viola and audience involvement all "to diffuse the notion of control amongst the group and audience". I can't picture a better setting for this experimentation than the high-caliber crowds Night Hawks draws in.
"Burlap I-IV" by Philip Stearns - Another Cal Arts alumni makes his mark on the circuit-bending community by continuing his installation. Burlap combines sculpture and circuitry where each piece produces tones, sequencers, and dynamically behaving oscillators. The natural element of the burlap material is a beautiful contradiction to the notion of circuitry as something cold and calculated.
Aaron Myers, a recent USC grad, has always been fascinated with video games, including information visualization, artificial life and generative image-making. TorrentRaiders was his MFA project - an arcade stylization of bit-torrent waves. You can also go play his live action video game Mobzombies before the arcade madness hits Monday. He'll be showing a new 2-D piece with light patterns that react and self-generate.
Volum (UK, Berlin, Detroit, Los Angeles) of the world renowned electro duo Volsoc brings his proclaimed "breakdance music for aliens". Playing the night's DJ will be Jean-Paul Bondy rocking robot beats and a slew of surprises. See jbondy.com - the man's also quite the accomplished animator.Labels: art, events, music, Nighthawks, performances
Meredith R. at 13:05
Labels: music, videos, www.internet.com
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Blonde Redhead played LA Weekly's Detour Festival last year. [from losanjealous.com]Meredith R. at 11:29
Tonight Silver Lake's one and only Anarchy Jordan takes his idealist politics to the masses via his new musical title Your Violent Desires who hail from the Dimension of Love, U.S.A. Nobody makes lyrics like "Liars keep the war-machine running" so toe-tapping. You can find Jordan's songs plus lyrics on his demo website The Poetry of Revolt.Meredith R. at 08:16

...About the dance party? Okay, fine. Your boyfriend can come too.Meredith R. at 17:25
I wish more concert posters were as literal as this. Has a great old school feel to it, don't you think?Meredith R. at 11:49
Night Hawks is proud to present another band from the Santa Fe, New Mexico High Mayhem family. Formerly known as Derail, We Drew Lightning takes instrumentation to new highs. Loud feedback, dreamy vocals, and even an old school light show follow them on tour these next few months. Art geeks and rockers alike will be deeply left in their powerful wake. As has become Night Hawks' signature, we pack the stage with the highest quality musicians who have the most heart. This Monday's circus will not stop buzzing once these guys leave the stage.Labels: events, music, Nighthawks
Meredith R. at 14:34

Labels: events, music, Nighthawks
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Labels: local, music, newsworthy
Meredith R. at 14:35
A little guide to the bands ----Labels: events, music, Nighthawks
Meredith R. at 09:19
Yes. Those are musical instruments. A modge-podge of electronic gadgets and unashamed childlike experimentation took over pockets of LA last night as The Circuit Bending Festival commenced at Il Coral. Tonight hosts an evening of performances and mingling at the historic Velaslavasay Panorama Theater. Tomorrow there's a day of workshops so you too can learn to create some of the most interesting noise out there. Dig out your See & Spells, your Casios, or even jack your roommate's cellphone and you can be in a (so geeky it's wonderful) band this weekend.Labels: events, music, newsworthy, videos
Meredith R. at 10:45
Fish Circus says: "There is only one Fish Circus but there is more than one way to fish circus."
Labels: events, music, Nighthawks
Meredith R. at 12:58
Wanna preview New Mexico's The Late Severa Wires before they play at Night Hawks? Of course you do. If you're a fan of new/experimental rock you'd be a fool not to catch the show at Pehrspace tonight.Labels: events, music, Nighthawks
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Labels: art, events, music, Nighthawks
Meredith R. at 11:43
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* I dig the short and sweet interview LA Weekly held with Great Northern. The Silver Lake darlings play Spaceland Monday night 10:00pm.
* Courtesy of my new favorite art site SourHarvest.com : their nicely layed-out schedule may be a little behind the week, but scroll down to find Saturday's listings which include a benefit art auction in Culver City. Everyone's favorite street artists turned industry debutantes will be selling their interpretations of vintage paint by numbers to benefit LA's own The Alliance for Children's Rights including: Paul Frank, Shepard Fairey, Gary Baseman, Camille Rose Garcia, Isabel Samaras, Shag, Gary Panter, Tim Biskup and more more more. @ Corey Helford Gallery, Culver City. Public viewing begins 10:00pm.Meredith R. at 10:38
That's Spanish for Fish Circus, who is not a Spanish band, but will be playing at the Spanish themed club El Cid tomorrow night. El Cid's dank atmosphere makes me feel like I'm in a dungeon. I'm tempted to make a tasteless Inquisition joke here but will refrain. Fish Circus plan to brighten things up with a raucous acoustic set that includes accordions and gypsy dances. Show starts at 11:00pm. Fellow Glendale band Tallulah Sound Experiment go on after. Join the closet polka fanatics and music school drop outs at the bar.Meredith R. at 17:24
"Just A Thought" Gnarls Barkley (St. Elsewhere)**

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If you listened to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's first self-titled album, then you know these guys are clever lyricists, artsy vocalists, and craft a unique sound more likely to share a category with Talking Heads than a lot of recent indie rock.Meredith R. at 15:20
Think they'll be giving away Puma gear? Worth a shot I think.Meredith R. at 15:29
It's not only an end of the year list, it's a contest! Send me your choices for best songs of 2006 and I'll compile all of the songs into a giant mix CD. The first 10 to reply will get a copy. You can send in as little as five songs or as many as 100, just make sure they were really released in 2006 - no exceptions. Email me your address for a CD and post your picks in the comments. Here's my list to get you going. I've left off Justin Timberlake and TV On The Radio on purpose in hope to lure you in.Meredith R. at 17:59
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"From Los Angeles to Chile to around the world and back again, Los Abandoned reunites the Casio keyboard with gritty electric guitars and the bittersweet ukulele in their post-punk/latin alternative influenced sound. Los Abandoned is taking over the scene with their bilingual blend of hooky, high-energy pop/rock and retro-folklore sounds." - BioMeredith R. at 17:04
Vice Magazine, known for promoting global hedonism (not to mention their dos and donts page I'm re-obsessed with) is coming out with a new DVD this month. The Vice Guide to Travel. It's not a lonely planet guide on film by any means, more like a primer to where the largest illegal arms dealers are in the world, or where drug lords go to party in Rio de Janeiro, or what really is going down in Chernobyl right now. Johnny Knoxville and David Cross round out a group of celebrity and daring journalists' journeys to the center of these non-vacation destinations. The mini-trailer is enough to scare me away from Pakistan for a while longer.Meredith R. at 14:32
Jon Brion at Largo: Friday Nov. 17.Jill Sobule, opener
--Bitter
--Bobbie Gentry*
--Now That I Don't Have You*
--Ring Them Bells*
--Victorious*
* = with Greg Leisz (slide guitar)
Jon Brion
--guitar instrumental
--pedal demo (genius!)
--Girl I Knew
--The Way It Went
--"Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind" theme
--That's Just What You Are
--Knock Yourself Out (from "I heart Huckabees")
--I'm Further On
--Strings That Tie to You (from "Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind")
--Someone to Watch Over Me (jazzy/rock cover of the Gershwin standard)
with Benmont Tench, piano and Greg Leisz
--Isn't It a Pity (George Harrison)
--It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (Bob Dylan)
--I'll Be Back (Beatles)
--I Don't Hurt Anymore (Hank Snow)
--Day After Day (Badfinger)
--Why Do You Do This to Yourself
--Gigantic (Pixies) /Jesse's Girl (Rick Springfield)/Taxman/Within You, Without You (Beatles)
--Tomorrow Never Knows/Day Tripper/She Said, She Said/I Want You/Ob La Di, Ob La Da/Dear Prudence/Baby You're a Rich Man + hundred other Beatles riffs + She's So Heavy
Meredith R. at 23:39
They're the download of the week on Latino iTunes. They're all over the radio and making playlists of years all over country. They're new band to me: Los Abandoned. You may have heard their single "Stalk U" over and over on KROQ and Indie 103.1 and like me, was dubious at first to say the least. It sounded like it could be the Suicide Girls' debut album. The chorus is too repetitive; too neo-Green Day. But after the sixth or seventh air play the lyrics become perfectly profound and outrageously catchy as the listener follows a girl's obsession with an art student who "looks like a Charlie" and creates Drew Barrymore installations. The rest of the album pays tribute to the band's bilingual background proving more Spanglish enhanced melodies in songs like "Van Nuys (es very nice)" the story of a young punk going to the Valley. "Me Quieren en Chile" had some airplay last year on KCRW's world music hour. A pop-punk song completely in Spanish that never loses a contemporary nor interpersonal edge. Lady P on lead vocals has been around the LA music scene for quite some years but her youthful energy backed by Casios and electric guitars sounds super fresh even to this gringas ears.Meredith R. at 11:54
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Coming from Los Feliz
Take 180 Bus Westbound to Hollywood/Vine Station then take the Metro Red Line Eastbound to Union Station
Coming from the Pomona area
Take the MetroLink Riverside Eastbound exit Union Station
Coming from the Irvine area
Take the MetroLink Orange County Line Northbound to Union Station
Coming from Pasadena
Take the Metro Gold Line Southbound to Union Station.
Labels: environmental, events, music
Meredith R. at 11:58
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#1 Sunset Junction
#4 Cannibal Flower 6 Year AnniversaryLabels: books, events, music, television
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I can't get enough of it. Be it Ira Glass' soothing stories on This American Life to Terry Gross' amazing interview skills my car radio is always tuned to 89.5. I'm even one of those driveway listeners who can't walk into the house after my commute home because I'm stuck in my car hanging on every word.Meredith R. at 12:49