You may have seen it driving around L.A. A looming skull with hollow eyes holding up a cellphone to its’ ear. An iconic x-ray likeness of ourselves; simple, cool, and poignant. Painted on walls, billboards, posters and forged into neon signs. It peeks out at passersby in Silver Lake and flashes between electronic billboard advertisements. It shares the same name as the artist: Skullphone. Skullphone has managed to create a memorable and compelling icon in a town that’s lousy with lousy icons.
During Bon Iver’s show at downtown L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium, the band’s creative force, Justin Vernon, shot a heartfelt glance out towards a sold out audience and proclaimed that this was the biggest show the band had ever played. In shock over every single seat in the house being filled, Vernon told his army of loyal followers that, “It would be far weirder if we were up here sweating it out by ourselves with no one here.”
It was last September when we last checked in with Tutu Sweeney and his talented sidekicks, The Brothers Band, as they record ed tracks at Red Bull Studios for his debut album. Fast forward to today and Tutu is happy to report that the record is finally complete and ready to shop to labels – a task which will occupy his every waking moment upon returning from an upcoming East Coast tour with Aloe Blacc and the Grand Scheme. While video chatting with his brother Te’Amir in Switzerland, Tutu showcased his multitasking skills by simultaneously answering interview questions over the phone.
Tutu gives us an insider look at tracks off the new album and discusses his latest show at the Santa Monica Pier, growing up near the chaos of Venice Beach, and almost getting his arm cut off alongside “The Rock” in The Scorpion King.
For the past few months, if you tried to dig up any information on Crosses — Chino Moreno’s latest project with Far guitarist Shaun Lopez and a mysterious Clint Eastwood-type guitar-slinger named Chuck – you’d find next to nothing. There might be a reason for that: Crosses isn’t Deftones-ish at all. And it ain’t really even remotely Far-esque. It’s an unorthodox but heady mix of trip-hop, jazz, and some touches of that Northern California brand of hard rock they helped pioneer.
But days ago Chino dropped five free downloads of the Crosses project onto his Facebook page. Here’s an interview we got with the guys last month, when the album was still being mixed in Red Bull Studios.
Without spelling out the fact that Los Angeles concert audiences can be smug, which I might have just accidentally done, I’ll admit that we can be a tough crowd. In our defense, we’re spoiled; there is just so much good music around that it can be tricky to impress us enough to uncross our arms and let loose at a show.
Every now and then, a band will roll through town, however, that makes us throw all inhibitions out the window and rock out; that makes us show off our best dance moves, throw out energetic fist pumps, and convinces us that we will lose face if we go home without participating in the mosh pit or attempting to crowd surf. For many, this band is Alkaline Trio.
If you think that garage sales are the only place to find epic record collections, think again. Wombleton Records in Highland Park is a used vinyl shop chalk full of rare and original LPs and 45s, which are hand selected from all over the world. The store is a collaboration between husband and wife record fanatics, Ian Marshall and Jade Gordon.
It all started with a vision: One red dress, 51 artists, and creative attempts at employing emotional energy. Such was the idea behind Rhonda Soikowski’s “Entropy. Redress.” – Phase II of a research and development performance series that has been traveling across major U.S. cities for the past month.
It seemed as if everyone in the vicinity of Hollywood was at the Yeasayer show this past week. The Brooklyn-based experimental rock band took the stage at Hollywood’s Music Box on May 23rd and 24th, performing to a sea of eager Angelenos.
Foster The People is in the midst of an extensive headlining tour. They won over thousands at Coachella and have already sold out their upcoming El Rey dates in Los Angeles in July. Last week, the titans of indie rock played a free set at Hollywood’s Amoeba Music to a crowd of over 600 fans.
The show kicked off shortly after 6:30 p.m., however, fans skipped out of work and got in line way before to solidify their spots; the earliest arriving at 10 a.m. Groups of Foster lovers crammed into CD aisles which were roped off once at capacity.
With her explicit lyrics, edgy beats, and spunky personality, Yelle might single handedly be responsible for making the US fall in love with France. Julie Budet (Yelle) and her band, consisting of Jean-Francois Perrier (GrandMariner) and Tanguy Destable (Tepr), have been out on the road for a 6-week tour in support of their latest release, Safari Disco Club.
Backstage before the show at Los Angeles’s Music Box, Yelle greeted us with a smile and a look that would have taken the average person a team of stylists to assemble. Dressed in spotted animal print pants and a black scoop neck shirt, sporting a soft pretzel necklace and Eiffel Tower earrings, she pulled up a chair and began expressing her love for America.
In an interview with ChinaShop, Yelle discusses remixing songs for Katy Perry and Robyn, getting used to American culture, and dressing to impress on stage.