Music Sunday Night in Silver Lake: SSJ 2010

August 26, 2010 - 3:22 pm

Girls in a Coma

Sunday I sun screened, loaded up my ‘concert purse,’ stocked up on carbs and headed to the Sunset Junction.  As I walked through the gates, I stumbled right into a mini techno fest with DJs spinning and girls dancing on the Electro Stage.  After bouncing from stage to stage, I settled in at the Bates Stage for Girl in a Coma.  I’d never seen them play before but was intrigued by a mixture of things I have heard about the trio and the fact that they are named after a Smith’s song.  It was a bit angry chick rock at times but I liked it overall.  The singer has powerful vocals and it was refreshing to see female guitar players rock out on stage.  They played Static Mind, which was a catchy tune and then chose Femme Fatale for the encore.  The crowd was filled with stylish-haired hipsters, many proudly equipped with Girl in a Coma merch.  After the set, a festival attendee turned to her friend and said, “Wow!  That was tight.”

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Featured Music Ima Robot Enters the 5th Dimension

August 2, 2010 - 10:51 am

Los Angeles based, indie/new wave band Ima Robot have been through their fair share of music industry travails – most of the drama stemming from their involvement with the questionable politics of being signed to a major label contract. What is it that Q-Tip said again so prophetically on the track “Check the Rhyme”? Oh yeah, “Industry rule #4080, record company people are shady.”

All the label issues culminated in the band taking a break from their situation and stealing some time away to refocus and try new things. Ima Robot founding member, Timmy Anderson states it this way.

“We were all a bit tweaked from our last year or so in the major label game – I’ll leave it at that!  Some life happened, a lot of work and side projects went down (Guns n Bombs, Edward Sharpe, Werewolf Heart records) and we all just went off exploring other musical endeavors and interests.”

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Event Gallery The Watson Twins vs. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros : Folk (esque) Showdown!!

March 2, 2010 - 11:48 am

Sunday’s concluding Noise Pop festivities took place at the legendary Bimbo’s 365 cafe, a complete departure from the comparatively run-down areas of ‘Frisco we’d been checking out the bands at thus far.  It was there that two completely different kinds of folk bands squared off against one another: first, the Joni Mitchell-esque Watson Twins, with their docile harmonies, tambourine taps and strummed acoustic guitars. Their rivals were headliners Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, more of a Mamas and The Papas-type of family band who drove the crowd nothing short of koo-koo, Dizzy Balloon-style except with a lot more of the unwashed masses. For those who have never been, Bimbo’s looks a lot like the Overlook Hotel from The Shining; its decadent, roaring 20′s interior boasts a grand ballroom, red velvet everything and a bar that eerily resembles the one Jack Nicholson heard voices at. So…come play with us, Danny!

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