via LA Lovecat
One of the best things about Sonic Youth is their ability to create an incredible force of sound that swells out from the stage and envelops everything in its path, and on January 9th Sonic Youth knocked the socks off The Wiltern in Los Angeles, having rescheduled a sold-out from a September date due to Lee Ranaldo’s fractured wrist. It was definitely worth the wait- the whole theater was filled with an incredible intensity from the moment they stepped on the stage. Any band that’s been together for three decades that can smash out a rendition of a song entitled “Anti-Orgasm” with such fervor that the crowd nearly starts frothing at the mouth deserves your serious respect. Luckily, we have Sonic Youth to remind us that post-punk didn’t die out with 80s.
The set consisted mainly of songs off their new album, The Eternal off Matador Records. Some of the highlights included “Sacred Trickster,” the raucous opening track of the album, the ballad-like “Antenna,” and “Leaky Lifeboat.” All their songs were complimented by Thurston Moore’s mesmerizing guitar work and the incredible stage presence of frontwoman and bassist Kim Gordon, who alternated between ethereal wails on “Massage the History” and powerful shouts on “Calming the Snake.”
Sonic Youth didn’t forget to acknowledge their roots, playing renditions of “The Sprawl” and, during the encore, “‘Cross the Breeze” off Daydream Nation, proving that they still have plenty of eardrum-assaulting noise soundscapes within them; time has only shown them how to unleash the power with discretion, allowing them to supercharge their audience exactly when and where they please. And at the end of the night, Kim left her mark by gently pounding her bass on the floor, creating a deep reverberating echo that resounded even after the lights had dropped and she had exited the stage.
Having anticipated this new year’s congregation, with high energy I entered The Hollywood Palladium, a place occupied by a variety of events. Back in the day my mother and aunt used to hit that place up. It was a hot place back in the 70s. A venue with a capacity of 4,000 felt very comfortable and there was enough space for all to dance, lounge and crowd up towards the front of the stage where the bass pressure satisfied the eager need to be destroyed by heavy hard sounds served up by Destructo, Mehdi, A-trak, and Boys Noize.
Continue reading ‘hard new year’
Photo by Nate Miller
I was at 60 Watt Kid’s record release show at the Echo a couple nights ago, with Tearist, Gowns, and Best Coast too. Regrettably, my friends camera broke so I only have this photo from a show at UCI last year. You can get the album from here.
Gowns’ set was simply breathtaking, albeit short. They only played 3 songs. It began with Ezra on the violin, manipulating his live playing with the multitude of pedals in front of him. That droning served as a perfect canvas for Erika’s singing and guitar playing. The song morphed into a sonic masterpiece, one that involved Erika smashing her guitar around a bit at the end. She apologized to it after while tuning. The set ended with a hip hop song. Ezra played music on a keyboard and Erika rapped with the best.
Best Coast went on next, and despite a few issues with the sound at first (the vocals weren’t coming through) played a great set. They played the usual favorites off their 7″ along with a few new songs I hadn’t heard. Bethany pointed out that she and her guitarist, Bobb, had matching guitars. It was planned.
60 Watt Kid came on last, and played some incredible songs. Now with a drummer, their band sounded much more full than I’ve heard it before, and the rhythm added a great new element to their songs. However, it in no way diminished the wonderful interplay between the two original members, Kevin and Derek. They each played and looped parts on guitars and keys, creating sounds I didn’t think possible from just two people. Kevin’s stage antics, once he departed from his instruments and thrashed around the stage with just a microphone, were definitely memorable as well.
If you want to catch 60 Watt Kid for yourself, they’ll be playing the December 12th FMLY show at the Courtyard with Tempo No Tempo and Grooms. Get excited.
60 Watt Kid – We Come From the Bright Side
Best Coast – Angsty
Gowns – Rope
What’s not to like about good photos? Welcome a new contributing photographer with me.
Photos: Jesse Fulton / Melissa Snyder
Continue reading ‘war horses – 11/9/09′
In case you don’t already know: Dan Deacon will take your idea of live music, light it on fire, and throw it out into the unexpected void beyond to fend for itself. Don’t walk into the show expecting anything because most likely whatever you would have expected will just be utterly trampled and ripped to shreds by the end of the night. And I mean that in the best way possible- just be a willing captive.
To make up for his cancellation at FYF Fest, Dan played the Center for the Arts in Eagle Rock last Friday, October 17th along with Moses Campbell and Nuclear Power Pants. I almost gave in to my lazy side and didn’t go (Eagle Rock is no easy drive from the westside), but I just had these nagging feelings telling me if I didn’t go I would have the worst regrets. So off I went to probably the most incredible show I’ve been to this fall.
Dan Deacon- The Crystal Cat
Continue reading ‘dan deacon in eagle rock: the experience’
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes played SOhO last Saturday, 10/10/09. I was there and caught up with Alex Ebert beforehand to discuss some heavy topics about the world and everything involved…
It was good. The following has been published by the Santa Barbara Independent, so give them some clicks if you’re bored and want to know where to pick up sandbags for the incoming storm.
Continue reading ‘ed sharpe interview/review – santa barbara 10/10/09′
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photo cred: liz wood
After an amazing show at Oakland’s Ghost Town Gallery I pow-wowed with some of my ladyfriends from the Bay Area sensation, The Splinters. Something about these girls makes you wanna sneak out at night, after mom and pop have gone beddy-bye, so you can get down and boogie in some of Oakland’s seediest secret lairs. Maybe it’s their sweet 60’s style riffs and grrrly apathetic-to-borderline-irate vocals. Maybe it’s cuz they’re such totally badass hotties. Either way, you’re in for a sweet time. Feel free to check out their myspace here and give the track below a listen. {Edit: tracksSs – the ladies sent me two hella siqq ones off of their 7″ released via Double Negative this past August! click,click }
The Splinters – Splintered Bridges
The Splinters – Sorry
A: Ashley Thomas AKA “Flapjacks” – rickenbacker, bass, vocals
CP: Caroline Partamian AKA “Spex” – guitar, bass, vocals
L: Lauren Stern AKA “Ketchup” – shaker, tambourine lady, vocals
CG: Courtney Gray AKA “JuJu” – drums, vocals
[Note: It might be useful to imagine a laugh track here, as the continuous chortling has been edited out for the sake of fluidity.]
Continue reading ‘would you rather . . .’
photos courtesy of the homie, leia jospe
While last night’s show was sweaty, drunk and balls to the wall, floor or against the person in front of you, the talk of the town has been what happened afterwards at Daddy’s between Nathan Williams and Jared from the Black Lips…but I’ll get to that in a bit.
Continue reading ‘wavves @ market hotel + black lips dawg fight’
Beach House played at Berbati’s – a dark, unwelcoming bar with erratic acoustics (to put it charitably).
Beach House – Some Things Last A Long Time
Continue reading ‘beach house at mfnw’
Monotonix started their tour off at the Casbah in San Diego, and a FMLY friend took some really epic pictures, It’s sort of a late post, but I have a feeling you’ll enjoy them…
Photos – Jake Gonen / Website
more after the jump!
Continue reading ‘monotonix cockslap san diego!’
Wordsworthe --
September 8, 2009 --
Uncategorized and show reviews.
Tags: 2009, black lips, Converge, Dillinger Escape Plan, fuck yeah fest, fucked up, fyf fest, japanther, Lightening Bolt, ninjasonik, no age, Peanut Butter Wolf, wavves, woods.
So a bunch of FMLY friends mobbed FYF fest, formally known as Fuck Yeah Fest, in order to give you an update on the world you live in.
We’re fucking Ninjasonik, we’re fucking Japanther, we’re fucking everybody in this entire place tonight!
-Japanther/Ninjasonik
Photos – Jesse Fulton
Words – Wordsworthe
The Wall – A Vision of the Future – Jump down to the photos if you don’t care.
It’s become somewhat of a cliche in these times to try and be unique, to a point where everyone that deviates from anything considered normal is a ‘Hipster’ and anybody claiming not to be is still labeled as one. But nothing is normal and nothing is unique… Anymore (or was it ever?).
Continue reading ‘fuck.’
