Author Archives: E.M.S.

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Featured Gallery Music The Peter Bjorn and John All You Can Eat Tour

by Nicole Pajer and E.M.S.
October 27, 2011 - 10:16 am

Playing a show or two in a city and them moving on to the next? Peter Bjorn and John have been there done that. When planning the “All You Can Eat” leg of the Gimme Some tour, the Swedish trio was looking for something more exciting to bring to their fans. Their solution? A stop in each city featuring a PBJ Gimme Some gallery exhibition, multiple performance dates, and food truck catered events where the band can hang with fans while they munch on a variety of dishes from mobile eateries. “Food trucks are the indie rock of food so having those on site was only fitting,” explains Björn Yttling.

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Gallery Music Ninja, Please: Amon Tobin, Eskmo and Emika hit LA

by Rich Thomas and E.M.S.
October 24, 2011 - 11:27 am

Confetti. Lots and lots of confetti, blowing out of two large air canisters like a paper orgasm at the end of a Super Bowl. Who’s the big winner? You are. The above photo was taken at the close of Amon Tobin’s (inter)stellar performance at the Music Box in L.A. on October 16. If you were fortunate enough to be in attendance, scraps of write paper most likely fell out of your shirt whilst you were changing into your jammies later that night. Maybe your hearing has returned. Maybe not. Depends on where you were standing and whether or not you brought earplugs to combat the onslaught of sound, courtesy of “Big Sam” and his Pure Filth system. Maybe you bought an Amon Tobin onesie for your friend’s newborn—they were on sale—or perhaps you went home and downloaded songs from opening acts Eskmo and Emika. The traveling circus known as Ninja Tune once again rolled through Southern California, transforming the eyes, ears and expectations of a healthy Sunday night crowd.

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Gallery Music Social Distortion @ the Music Box : Prohibition-Era Punk Rock

by Jeff Nau and E.M.S.
April 26, 2011 - 10:22 am

There’s a lot of you out there (you know who you are) who long ago consigned yourself to the age-old credo “punk is dead.” You’d probably be hard-pressed to believe that even Social Distortion‘s recent Music Box performance could be the best argument in years to such a hastily-conceived notion. In addition to the debut of their newest and most raucous album in years, Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes, the boys really raised that punk bar a bit more: it wasn’t just a great concert with a tight band, it was a glorious punk rock/rockabilly/cinematic spectacle.

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Gallery Music Uh Huh Her @ The El Rey: Chicks Dig ‘Em

by Jeff Nau and E.M.S.
April 4, 2011 - 12:30 pm

Upon first listen, it doesn’t look or sound like Uh Huh Her is doing much new. Like countless others, they’re riding the 1982-87 New Wave for all it’s worth, packing their stage full of vintage analog synths, programmed digital drums, and guitars drenched in delay. Watching such a spirited performance at the El Rey on Friday night, it was even hard not to think of the female road warrior from Mad Max — or those slicked-down backup dancers from that Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” video.

But unlike so many others, UHH gets it right, capturing the post-punk spirit of what made bands like Joy Division and The Creatures so catchy. Songs like “I See Red” are infectious and ethereal, even dreamy; “Never the Same” (a preview from the upcoming Nocturnes), is awash in an astral noise that’s somewhere on the spectrum between Enya and M83.

Whatever it is, it’s working: judging by the rapturous applause and two encores, they stole hundreds of girls’ hearts tonight. As for the boys, who cares.

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Gallery Music Linkin Park and The Prodigy Bridge the Gap at Staples Center

by Rich Thomas and E.M.S.
February 25, 2011 - 2:09 pm

When Linkin Park released their latest album, A Thousand Suns, longtime fans had a bit of a meltdown. The diehards wanted so much to embrace its heavily electronic undertones and conceptual themes, but for many, their loyalty to the style LP helped pioneer with albums like Hybrid Theory and Meteora was just too strong. For me, a longtime electronic music fan, the change was a bold step in the right direction. So when it came time for Linkin Park to take their show on the road, a pairing with dance music kingpins The Prodigy at Staples Center in Los Angeles felt like a reinforcement of that new path.

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Featured Gallery Music Groove Armada and Dirty Vegas Light Up LA’s Supperclub

by Rich Thomas and E.M.S.
February 17, 2011 - 8:21 am

Grammy weekend in LA is all about the parties, and if you’re a dance music fan, there was no hotter place to be than Om Records’ showcase at the extra-posh Supperclub for a triple bill that included LA’s own Jason Bentley, Grammy Award-winning Dirty Vegas, and first-time Grammy nominees Groove Armada. Long recognized as two of electronic music’s most well-respected artists, Groove Armada and Dirty Vegas turned out flawless sets that electrified the crowd of industry execs and well-to-do Hollywood scenesters. “A different sort of crowd to what we’re used to,” said Groove Armada’s Tom Findlay, “but they gave it their all!”

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