Generationals in LA

The Generationals are in Los Angeles - which is making me a bit disappointed that I'm not in town. I've been into the band since I first heard "When They Fight, They Fight" and have enjoyed their latest release "Trust."

If you're in L.A. and you missed their performance last night at The Hotel Cafe, you can catch Generationals tonight (February 17th) at The Satellite (formerly Spaceland), where they are performing with The Black Apples, Minks and Shadow Shadow Shade. You can purchase tickets to that show by clicking here. The band follows that up with a performance at hipster eastside record shop Origami Vinyl on Friday February 18th. That show is at 7 pm and likely to be short, but I'm pretty sure that show is free.

FREE INDIE MONDAY w/ Risers, Kinch, Jenny O, Lucy Schwartz, Belle Brigade & The Fling

Josh from Risers

Tonight the eastside really is being taken over by phenomenal indie rock. Such good tunes that it would be foolish not to go. Packing in both Silverlake Lounge and The Satellite are handfuls of talent that make most indie-rock loving non Los-Angelenos regret their lack of residency here.

The shows I'm talking about are Risers & Kinch at Silverlake Lounge and Jenny O, Lucy Schwartz, The Fling and Belle Brigade at The Satellite (formerly Spaceland). Both events are FREE!

Risers get things moving at 9 pm at Silverlake Lounge where they will be premiering material from their first EP. I'm looking forward to indulging in a live version of "A Current Affair," which is probably my favorite track off of their EP. My plan is to stay for Kinch to catch at least one night of their residency, but with Jenny O pulling for my attention and rising start Lucy Schwartz too - it may be tough.

Schwartz and O play supporting roles on The Fling and Belle Brigade's Monday Night residency - the second to last residency show being hosted by Spaceland Presents. Schwartz is a singer-songwriter who has penned tracks for Shrek films, Grey's Anatomy and many other popular films/shows. Jenny O represents the crushing vocals behind every Yeah Yeah Yeah's track you've jammed to over the last half decade.

Returning for the second to last week are both Belle Brigade and The Fling. Both have generated considerable buzz from the residency - with The Fling using theirs to compete with Dangerbird labelmates Eulogies and Belle Brigade using theirs to maintain their indie cultural cache.

Regardless of which venue you head to, you're certain to have a not of good indie at either. If you can be a trooper and hit up both, than you're more than likely to find me somewhere....

Guide to Collide

Filter's Culture Collide Festival officially kicks off tonight at The Standard with an intimate lobby performance from Theophilus London amongst others. But, the true festivities get going in the early evening on Thursday when six different venues open their doors to Filter's festival badge bearers.

You could get confused with all the different options presented to you - so we're giving you a little pointers in this friendly GUIDE TO COLLIDE.

With Echoplex, Echo, 826 and Taix all within legitimate walking distance of one another, it is hard not to gravitate towards the events at those four venues. Thursday offers artists at all 4 with notable performances from Black Lips, City Riots, Kamp! and LexiconDon at Echoplex, CasioKids from Norway at Echo, rising LA act Gamble House at 826 and the European sounds of The Black Atlantic (Netherlands), Gold Lake (Spain), Laleh (Sweden) and Nive Neilsen & The Deer Children (Greenland) at Taix. In audition to the aural pleasureas, Taix also offers some internationally themed happy hours that are likely to please the palate.

However, to draw some of the crowd away from a massive collision of people, Filter made sure the line-ups at Spaceland and Standard were super strong on opening night. I'm heading to Spaceland - which boasts Risers, a young band out of Los Angeles already making a statement with well crafted, somewhat epic songwriting, opening for Finaland's K-X-P and Zebra and Snake. For those with an international appetite for DJs, Standard hosts El Guincho (Spain), The Witness Protection Programme (Ireland) and Sebastian Tellier (France), along with a live performance from Voxhaul Broadcast.

Risers

Friday, your Collision Decisions get a little bit easier as only four venues play host. If you want to go to festival center - you'll have easy access to Klaxons, Land of Talk, The Besnard Lakes, Suuns and Baby Monster at Echoplex if you prefer music from North America. If you love the blokes from over the pond, The Boxer Rebellion, White Lies (Dj set), Amusement Parks on Fire and Witness Protection Programme at Echo is probably for you. Taix hosts artists fromt ehr est of the world - with Battle Circus (New Zealand), City Riot (guide says AUS - not sure if thats Australian or Austrian - reminds me of DUMB & DUMBER - put another shrimp on the barbie, mate!), Harrys Gym (Norway) and L. Stadt (Poland). We'd guide you to those three venues over Spain inspired Spaceland's line-up of El Guincho, Gold Lake, Capsula, The Outline and Two Sheds.

Saturday is the last "venue day" and also the last day of beer gardens and Happy Hours at Taix. I think I'm going to invest some time in the tribes culture by visiting Taix from 2-4 pm to check out the happy hour and special guest performance presented by the Israel Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Wonder if that special guest might be Pink Noise or Monotonix, both Israeli acts performing later at Spaceland where they will be joined by Mariachi El Bronx, The Franks and Jacuzzi Hi-Dive.

Also performing Saturday night are White Lies, Voxhaul Broadcast, Battle Circus + others at Echoplex; Cass McCombs, Laleh, The Black Atlantic at 826LA and Bambi Kino, Capsula, Two Sheds and Hello Saferide at Taix.

Sunday is the culmination, the climax, the entree course - as most of the above mentioned acts pour out into the streets and flood Sunset Blvd. with indie tunes galore. The Toyota Antics sponsored Block Party begins around 2:30 p.m. with Glaciers, followed by The Tender Box and a special guest. Things don't get going with multiple acts until around 5 pm - which leaves enough time to recover from a wild Saturday and poke your head in at the start of the Do Over (only 3 Sundays left after this one).

But, once 5 rolls around - acts multiply - Monotonix, Amusment Parks on Fire and White Lies all take the stage within that hour, followed shortly after by Phantogram, Cass McCombs and The Boxer Rebellion, who headline stage 2. The festival closes out with headline spots from Tokyo Police Club on the Main Stage at 8 and Seal Wolf and Fran Healy's respective acoustic performances at the Church.

Learn more details about Filter Magazine's Culture Collide Festival, including where you can get tickets - by clicking here.

Local Band Puts A Fun Twist on Meet & Greet

Last night, I had the privilege of being invited to Spaceland for a meet and greet with Eastern Conference Champions, the current FREE Monday night residency headliner.

ECC, originally from Philadelphia, is an American indie-rock trio featuring Joshua Ostrander, Greg Lyons and Melissa Dougherty. They've been building a steady buzz recently after receiving some hype when word got out that they would be featured on The Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack. The band has furthered that buzz with performances at a handful of local festivals, including Sunset Junction and their current Spaceland residency. Last night, they upped the ante even more when they invited bloggers, including myself, out for some beer and pizza before their show.

Calmly enjoying the tasty (and free) suds of a freshly poured Stone IPA, I got to meet the bandmates, chop it up with Buzzbands Kevin Bronson and talk to the bands publicity team. The soiree, which took place in the back room at Spaceland, became a healthy forum for blog blotter, indie band rumors and brief arguments over who is the next LA band to blow. Although some of the tangential conversation may have taken away from the focus of the event (I got pretty caught up explaining how exactly Foster The People had screwed over me and SUPERGOODMUSIC), I left the soiree thinking I'd made new friends (shout outs to the members of ECC, Buzz Bands Kevin Bronson, J.J. from LA Beets, the new LA Chapter of Owl City, and all the lovely ladies from Planetary Group) and excited to see a rising band perform.

Before ECC hit the stage, local indie duo, The Pity Party, were throwing down their eclectic blend of music. I paid close attention to the drummer, who is clearly talented - she plays drums, keys and sings simultaneously while her partner strutted his guitar and maintained an image of being not that into it. The guy girl duo reminded me a lot of a reversed version of Odd Modern (those two bands should play a show together). Pity also employs some live video streaming and editing, a la Saint Motel.

Post Pity Party the crowd swelled slightly for Eastern Conference Champions - who after the show were taking off to Madison, WI and Chicago, IL for performances later this week. Although not familiar with all of their tunes (they've been a band since about 2005), I was eager to catch the entirety of their show. I unfortunately had to dip out, so seeing their encore will have to wait until next week....

In toto, it was a great time; what struck me most about the evening gathering was that other bands aren't doing this. I thought it was a great way to pull me into the venue early and actually get some face time with the band. I'm not sure who had the brilliant idea - whether it was Planetary Group or Eastern Conference Champions - but cheers to that genius. The simple act of kindness got me to write an article AND I am going back next week to catch some more ECC!

Hope to see you there; it will be the last performance of the Champions' residency.

Filter Presents: Culture Collide Festival (10/7-10/10)

FILTER, festivals and food trucks! Oh my! What does every half-employed, LA-based hipster love? Vivacious tunes with a side of PBR and grilled cheese, of course! Luckily, FILTER Magazine has decided to appeal to the music masses and offer up a multi-day street festival composed of radical bands from all over the world, and delectable food trucks from all over the city. Seriously, what’s better than that? The answer is: nothing. We’re lucky enough to live in Sunshine Central with an over-abundance of creative minds all looking to let loose and get their dance on. So let’s prove to our parents that our college degrees were worth it, and take advantage of this. Don’t make me tell you twice.


October 7th through 10th FILTER magazine is taking over the streets of Echo Park and Downtown to give us musical, as well as edible, deliciousness. From Klaxons to Sea Wolf, and Casiokids to Caribou, they’ve got a United Nations of enticing beats to appeal to your own individual tastes. Wristbands for all four days are a mere $20 - that’s $5 per day, or to put it in hipster terms, is the near-equivalent to one PBR on tap during Cha Cha Lounge’s happy hour. For more information go to culturecollide.com, or better yet, take my word for it and get your ticket directly from ticketweb.com. It’ll be the best (and least expensive) decision you made since... well, let’s face it, you guys probably make bad decisions all the time. Buy your ticket, and then proceed to make your bad decisions at the festival in typical LA-fashion, you’ll be happy you did.


by Lauren Lomma

Back in Business - Orgone Pulled Out My O Face

It's so great to be back in Los Angeles. Things are moving forward in the music world - and LA is really the center of our music world. We quickly got back to it last night with stops at both Spaceland, for Orgone (pronounced Org-own, similar in sound to organ) and Nomo and then a stop at The Roxy for Scion's House Party featuring 12th Planet, amongst others.

With all the excitement, RCA ended up leaving his wallet at home...so the night started a little bit later than expected. Nonetheless, it was a funk-filled return to Los Angeles last night – as I basically went from the airport to Spaceland to see Nomo & Orgone throw it down.

Orgone, the female vocalized funk band from California, came on at about 10 p.m. and were nothing short of spectacular. In addition to the on fire rhythms coming from the bassist, drummer and percussionist - the three piece horn section did their part to round out the funkfest.

They rifled through material new and old, including several stretches of seamless transitions between songs that kept the energy going. You could’ve closed your eyes and thought you were in a bar in New Orleans in the ‘70s. Midway through their performance they had managed to assemble a little dance party near the front of the stage that they kept moving with heavy rhythms on “Funky Nassau” and a raucous cover of “I Get Lifted.” To make the vibe even cooler – DJ Nu Mark was in the house getting his boogie on too.

Having enjoyed themselves a bit too much on stage and with the crowd, Fanny Franklin led the pack through a speedy closer

Nomo came on a long forty minutes after Orgone stepped off stage. The Ubiquity label midwest natives showcased a different side of jazz - one that was a little less funky, a little more melodic, but nonetheless extremely rhythmic. Part of that rhythm was held down by Eric Hall, one of the two drummers performing, who also played rhythm guitar at times. He and Elliott, the bands ringleader, have been staples of Nomo since the bands birth in Ann Arbor.

Performing to a handsome size crowd, Nomo continued fueling the trend of dancing bodies on the dance-floor well past midnight. Unfortunately, we did not catch the end of their show...but that is because we went to The Roxy for Scion's event.

We didn't bring our camera inside, so we have no photos to share - but we'll try and remember to do that next time. Who knew so many dubstep hungry youngsters would come out on a Wednesday night? Not only did we shake with the fiery bass, we witnessed some feisty youngsters throw it down in the lobby, some American Apparel poster children getting freaky on the dance-floor and candy flippers and dope smokers getting arrested on the sidewalk. It had all the makings of a reality show a la Jersey Shore.