Monthly Archives: October 2011

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Featured Gallery Music An International Cornucopia of Sound: Culture Collide

by Mike Bucher and Catie Laffoon
October 20, 2011 - 12:55 pm

It’s safe to say that one thing all cultures have in common is music. There is something intrinsic to the sonic vibrations of voice, instrument, and song that we as humans are universally drawn to. It is something that transcends culture or race. It is something we all share.

This October, Filter Magazine’s 2011 Culture Collide Festival lived up to it’s name, bringing together musicians from 23 countries to play on one stage right here in the heart of Los Angeles, and successfully creating an international cornucopia of sound.

We at ChinaShop can’t hardly wait until next year’s Culture Collide, adventure but in the meanwhile, we thought we would tie up this years event with a little bow by offering you some of our favorite photographs of the people that made this event so special.

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Featured Gallery Music Broken Heart Still Beating: The Darlings

by Nicole Pajer and Lisa Johnson
October 20, 2011 - 11:15 am

During their recent gig at The Roxy Theatre, The Darlings treated their audience to an impersonation of the creepy noise that the half-man/half-pigeon, which haunted them during a recent stay in Nevada City, uttered outside their hotel window. The fans seemed amused but had more fun singing along to their hit single “Broken Heart Still Beating.” Perhaps they needed the full story behind the eerie war cry, as we were lucky enough to be privy to.

In an interview with ChinaShop, the Los Angeles rockers told us all about this hybrid creature, which they decided had to be something worthy of a role on the X-Files. They also discussed their wide array of influences, bizarre childhood incidents involving mannequins, and their quest to bring real rock and roll back to the music scene.

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Music The Glitch Mob Release Free 2011 Mix Tape, More Voltage

by Rich Thomas
October 19, 2011 - 11:51 am

They’re baaaaaaack. Bass bin destroyers The Glitch Mob are about to blast through Europe on a 15-date tour, but to tide you over until show time, they’ve just release another free mix tape. This one’s called More Voltage, and we’re getting goosebumps from the tracklisting alone. Their 2009 mix, Crush Mode, is still in heavy rotation at ChinaShop HQ, but this one is definitely going to get some serious play. Download it for free and check the tracks after the jump, and be prepared to invest in a new set of speakers for your car.

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Featured Music Breakfast With Coldplay at the Red Bull Sound Space at KROQ

by Rich Thomas and Alex Rauch
October 19, 2011 - 11:27 am

Let me start by saying there was no breakfast. Not even a muffin or a packet of instant coffee, which, at 6:30 in the morning, is something one might be in the mood for. No, there were no comestibles to be found within the recently completed Red Bull Sound Space at KROQ in Los Angeles. There was just Coldplay, one of the biggest bands on the planet, performing a handful of new and old songs in an intimate theatre setting for 100 of their most enthusiastic fans. Actually, 101 if you count the precious cargo in the belly of the expectant mom next to me. Not a bad first concert, and not a bad way to break in Red Bull’s newest LA performance space.

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Music Tuesday Newsday: New Releases from Jane’s Addiction, M83, Chris Isaak, and Mick Fleetwood

by Shop Keeper
October 18, 2011 - 3:52 pm

Jane’s Addiction dishes out their first album in 8 years with The Great Escape Artist…M83 returns with Hurry Up, We’re Drowning, the anxiously-awaited follow-up to Saturdays=Youth…Mick Fleetwood re-releases his seminal 1981 classic, The Visitor…metal gods Iced Earth get yet another lead singer…Chris Isaak records tons of covers…somehow Everlast is still making albums…

Alesana - A Place Where the Sun Is Silent
Mick Fleetwood - The Visitor (Re-release)
Kimya Dawson - Thunder Thighs
M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Drowning
The Gaslight Anthem - iTunes Session [Live EP]
James Blake - Enough Thunder
Brown Bird - Salt for Salt
Cowboy Junkies - Sing in My Meadow
Cradle of Filth - Evermore Darkly
Four Tet - Fabriclive 59
Evile - Five Serpent’s Teeth
Class Actress - Rapprocher
Forest Fire - Staring at the X
Rob Crow - He Thinks He’s People
Iced Earth - Dystopia
Chris Isaak - Beyond the Sun  (Covers of classic Sun Studios recordings)
Body Language - Social Studies
Joe – The Good, The Bad, The Sexy
Jonti - Twirligig
Jane’s Addiction - The Great Escape Artist
Everlast - Songs of the Ungrateful Living
I Break Horses - Hearts

Film Ladies Fight Back (and Win)

by Ariel Maccarone
October 18, 2011 - 11:50 am

Let us paint you a picture: end of the world; fires; floods; violence; no wifi. What do you do? You find a partner with whom to navigate the madness. Now imagine your options are say… Barak Obama, Bruce Willis and Angelina Jolie. Obviously you choose Bruce Willis. If you’ve been raised in the West (and we don’t mean Santa Monica) you do. Consider that the guy did a series of “Die Hard” films and maintains a composure surpassing that of Sylvester Stallone and any of these “Twilight” vampire kids. Bruce Willis is a “man’s man.” A “man’s man” is a survivor because he dominates his environment. So, what’s a woman’s woman then?

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Featured Music Not-So-Pretentious Friends: Busdriver vs. Modeselektor

by Rich Thomas
October 18, 2011 - 10:27 am

In the first paragraph of their Wikipedia page, there’s an oft-referenced quote that Modeselektor’s Sebastian Szary gave when asked how he would classify his group’s music. He called it “happy metal, hard rap, country-ambient, Russian crunk,” a fitting response to whatever greenhorn journalist decided to pose such a question in the first place. Still, I can’t help but chuckle when Szary, in his slightly muddled yet perfectly polite English, asks the same question of his interviewer, the equally talented and just as unclassifiable Los Angeles rapper, Busdriver.

Sebastian Szary: You have a very special style of saying.

Busdriver: (Laughs) Yeah. I do.

Sebastian Szary: What do you call it?

Busdriver: It’s…well, hopefully…I don’t really know what I would call it but hopefully people call it good or worth paying for.

Myself, Busdriver (nee Regan Farquhar) and Szary have all jumped on our respective Skype accounts to discuss the latest Modeselektor full-length, Monkeytown, as well as their ongoing musical partnership; one that seems to push the boundaries of their respective genres each time they put their heads together. Their first joint was the twisted “BeatsWaySick,” which debuted on the Moderat album, a collaborative effort between Modeselektor and Apparat’s Sascha Ring. Now there’s “Pretentious Friends”—listen to it here—the freshest, neck-cracking hip-hop hybrid to come out of Germany since Funkstörung’s “Chopping Heads” in 2004.

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Featured Music Saint Motel Unveil “Puzzle Pieces” Video

by Shop Keeper
October 18, 2011 - 10:19 am

Today, LA-based indie all-stars Saint Motel unveiled their video for the breakout single “Puzzle Pieces” in a worldwide premiere on mtvU. The video, which was directed by Saint Motel frontman A/J Jackson, highlights their ability to create undeniably catchy hooks and brings to light their highly cinematic aesthetic and aural sensibility. To create “Puzzle Pieces” an exclusive helmet-cam was developed for the video, allowing the band to provide an insider’s look at the song from the performer’s perspective.

Watch “Puzzle Pieces” after the jump courtesy of our friends at mtvU.

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Featured Gallery Music Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (The Godfather-esque Interview)

by Nicole Pajer and Catie Laffoon
October 17, 2011 - 10:38 am

Alec Ounsworth and Sean Greenhalgh from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah joined us in the dining room at Taix French Restaurant for what the guys referred to as a “Godfather-esque” interview. We had our own private dining room complete with white linen tablecloths, cloth napkins, and an obnoxious amount of silverware. As Alec showed off his napkin folding skills, he told us all about his hobby of writing obscure children’s songs. Sean admitted to his obsessive self-Googling habits and the band joked about ridiculous photo shoots they’ve been wrangled into.

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Gallery Music Chico Mann and His One Mann Band

by Nicole Pajer and Catie Laffoon
October 17, 2011 - 10:25 am

Marquitos Garcia knows that it takes a special ear to appreciate an “obscure” genre like Afrobeat. While he welcomes a receptive audience, the Jersey-based one-man band, says he enjoys creating his groundbreaking Afrobeat/Afro-freestyle sound regardless of the crowd reaction. In an interview with ChinaShop, Garcia, aka Chico Mann jokes about not having time to gage audience reactions while he’s busy running the show on stage. He pokes fun at his alter ego, Chico Mann (Chico Maeng) and explains that he doesn’t take it too seriously. Garcia is all about the music, and thank goodness because he’s pretty damn good at it.

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