Monthly Archives: July 2011

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Featured Gallery Music Jager-Bombs, Applebees, and Rick Springfield: Mean Jeans

by Nicole Pajer and Dustin Downing
July 18, 2011 - 11:31 am

The Mean Jeans are a good ol’ fashioned, party hard and get rowdy on stage, punk band from Portland. The trio, consisting of Billy Jeans (guitar/vocals), Jean Wilder (drums/vocals), and Howie Doodat (bass, vocals) recently played the Dark Horse (formerly Bordello) in Los Angeles.

After finishing up on stage and toweling off the sweat, Billy Jeans and Jean Wilder “attempted” a serious interview with ChinaShop. The guys told us all about how they are able to create such a powerful sound with only 3 members (a lot of it, according to Billy Jeans, comes down to the fact that they are too lazy to search for additional members), as well as discussed filling up swimming pools with Red Bull plus Jager and amazing parties they don’t quite remember.

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Film Fridays Dear John (Carpenter)…

by Jeff Nau
July 15, 2011 - 8:07 pm

John Carpenter and Jack Burton

About 30 years ago, an ingenious little horror flick came out. One that perfectly captured that paranoia meme in all of us: racial, social, and even that requisite cold-war kind so many sci-films had captured already — yet this one had it all, and even more so.

It was called The Thing, and marked the continued movement of John Carpenter (Halloween, Escape From New York) into the well-deserved spotlight, and most significantly, his ascension to status of cult sci-fi/horror film Messiah (Carpenter, get it? Haha, sometimes I just nail ‘em). And alas, the man seems to have disappeared completely from sight.

And now The Thing is being re-made, with Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Sorry, it’s a prequel — whatever the f*ck they’re calling it. And who knows, it might be good. But the point of all this rambling is that we want you back, Mr. Carpenter, like the Jackson 5 song goes. As more than just an executive producer. We want you back, even if you’re just doing your best Asia impression and singing in your kimono.

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Music Parenthood, Burglars, and Adventures in Insomnia: The Weepies

by Nicole Pajer
July 15, 2011 - 11:20 am

Weepies Backyard Black and White Curves

The Weepies are about to embark on a 2011 summer tour and fans are ready. It’s not often that the Billboard chart topping indie duo get out on the road these days, as simultaneously raising a toddler and a baby has kept Steve Tannen and wife Deb Talan understandably busy.

ChinaShop caught up with Tannen to find out more about the band’s upcoming intimate acoustic dates. Tannen apologized for Talan’s absence during the interview and explained that her matronly duties had beckoned and she was off dealing with what he playfully referred to as a baby meltdown. Tannen talked about his appreciation for the recording process behind “Be My Thrill” and shared adventures with insomnia. He also discussed how his father was proud of him for placing a song in a Obama presidential campaign ad and told a crazy story about a not so clever burglar that attempted to break into the family home last month.

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Art Featured Gallery Yarn Bombing 18th Street

by Nicole Pajer and Dustin Downing
July 15, 2011 - 11:20 am

If you walked down the streets of Santa Monica recently, you might have noticed trees wearing sweaters, a convertible dressed in a knitted wardrobe, and crocheted birds hanging from trees. Your mind was not playing tricks on you – it was all part of a very real art phenomenon known as yarn bombing. In order to celebrate this knitted street art movement, the 18th Street Arts Center’s Arzu Arda Kosar and Arroyo Arts Collective co-president Heather Hoggan teamed up to present “18th Street Yarn Bombing.” For those unfamiliar with the trials and tribulations of yarn bombing, ChinaShop sat down with Kosar for the inside scoop:

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Event Gallery TwentyWonder: A “Carnival of the Mind”

by Dustin Downing
July 14, 2011 - 8:21 am

I bore easily. And my team of crack doctors are not sure if that is the result of the misfiring of a couple bazillion plaque laden dendrites or more likely the result of a mind/body switch (like with Sex, Drugs, and Natalie Portman), but mine with a kitteh. So it’s not all to often I find myself as entertained as I was this past weekend at TwentyWonder. A “carnival of the mind” featuring art, science, music and comedy which collided heart first with ass kickin roller derby to benefit the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles.

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Gallery Music Best Coast: Worst Traffic

by Nicole Pajer and Dustin Downing
July 14, 2011 - 7:05 am

Rumor has it, there were 10,000 fans in attendance at the Best Coast show at the Getty Center on Saturday night. This definitely explains the 405 being a nightmare, the Getty center off ramp resembling a parking lot, and the hope of finding a place to park anywhere in the vicinity of LA’s favorite hill top museum a nearly impossible feat. The show was part of the Getty Museum’s “Saturday’s Off the 405” – a weekly event featuring food, drinks, DJs, and some of today’s most notorious up and coming bands.

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Art Gallery I’m Getting Too Old For This Sh*t: Crazy 4 Cult 5

by Dustin Downing
July 13, 2011 - 11:36 am

Gallery 1988 on Melrose just unveiled one of their most popular annual art shows – Crazy 4 Cult. Long time film aficionado and gallery bossman Jensen Karp, “For years I had wanted to ask a group of artists to have a show which pays tribute to their favorite films.” Now in its 5th incarnation, this group show had asked for submissions from 100 pop-artists practicing various mediums to interpret some of their favorite cult celluloid.

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Gallery Music Let’s Dance: Latin Alternative Music Conference

by Amanda Boyd and Untracht-Oakner
July 13, 2011 - 11:03 am

Last week, the Latin Alternative Music Conference (LAMC) took New York City by storm with a slew of exhilarating performances featuring some of the top acts in the world of Latin music.

Despite my complete love for music, aside from the occasional spin on the ol’ salsa dance floor, Latin music isn’t something I’m all that familiar with or find myself listening to very often, so I was eager to check out just what LAMC had in store.

Whilst I enjoyed pretty much every show I checked out, Wednesday night’s acoustic showcase at S.O.B.’s was by far the highlight of the week.

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Music Tuesday Newsday: New Releases by Comet Gain, Blake Shelton, Memory Tapes, Alkaline Trio, MellowHype, Incubus

by Shop Keeper
July 12, 2011 - 3:40 pm

Alkaline Trio - Damnesia

The big recommendation this week is Memory Tapes’ lo-fi gem Piano Player…in other news, Incubus is still rocking out, this week with If Not Now, Then When?…Alkaline Trio returns with an all-acoustic set of songs called Damnesia…MellowHype is back with BlackenedWhite, what is supposedly the 2nd in a 3-album release in 2 short years…

Comet Gain – Howl of the Lonely Crowd

Blake Shelton – Red River Blue

Incubus - If Not Now, Then When?

Teddybears - Devil’s Music

Alkaline Trio - Damnesia

Jackie-O Motherfucker – Earth Sound System

Memory Tapes – Piano Player

MellowHype – BlackenedWhite

Kasey Chamber – Little Bird

Colbie Caillat – All of You

Eleanor Friedberger - Last Summer

SebastiAn – Total

Digitalism - I Love You, Dude

Zomby – Dedication

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