Radio Free Silver Lake

Interesting National Act: The Wooden Birds

by Joe Fielder

Remember American Analog Set? If you do, it's probably fondly...After that group's demise in 2005, singer/songwriter Andrew Kenny performed for awhile as a guest artist with acts like Album Leaf, Her Space Holiday, and Broken Social Scene, and has now returned with The Wooden Birds. The new group make lazy strumming pop music -- like a mellower Earlimart or less morose Elliott Smith -- and it's so goddamn charming live that you'll notice everyone in the room breaking into a smile at once. (With theirs probably the widest.)

Bite-Sized News: VINYL (good news and bad), No Age, and Silversun Pickups

By Whitney Hawke

- How you say... tri-fecta of terror? La-La-Land electro-punks No Age are teaming up with Baltimore computer-freak Dan Deacon and psych-rockers Deerhoof for a collaborative summer tour. Instead of the standard, opener-opener-headliner approach to playing shows, the three young powerhouses will be setting up on the same stage and alternating songs.

- The Los Angeles Times ran a ballin' article on the upsurge of vinyl record stores in Los Angeles. Those profiled are Origami Vinyl in Echo Park, Vacation in Los Feliz, and Little Radio in Downtown.

Show Review: Friend Folio III, with Roman Candles, Meho Plaza, Avi Buffalo

by Octavius

Saturday night, I headed out to Chinatown to catch some art openings, then off to Friend Folio III; a showcase of bands compiled by Classical Geek Theatre at Echo Curio. I was feeling under the weather (swine flu?) and the two beers I had while walking around Chung King Road didn't help. So, I arrive just in time to talk a bit with Meho Plaza in the back room about their new album and life in general. Roman Candles start just as Michael offers me a Tecate.

I've never seen or heard of Roman Candles before, but I quite enjoyed them. They did their set unmic-ed, unplugged, and pretty unpolished, just the way they like it. Tonight we were entertained by Chris and  Riley on accordion and guitar. Their pure unrepentant happiness just radiated through the room. Ah, to be young and happy for no reason.... These guys are so young, they're the type of band I won't recognize in a year after they grow that one last 1/2 inch. But they really were a lot of fun as they played like two kids performing in a college dorm room late at night. I only reconized the Jawbreaker song "Boxcar" which was one of my alltime favorite bands back in the early 1990's. Any band with this much enthusiasm has something going for them.

The LA Show Low Down (Or "It's Getting Kind of Tough To Get Noticed Here, Where the Sideshows Constantly Interfere...")

by Brad Roberts

There's more than a couple of 'cruel choice' evenings this week. Just look at Monday, there isn't one show not worth attention. Of course, here I go again on The Henry Clay People, but it's the last night of their residency. And Wednesday and Thursday are no picnic either. The red hot local vocal skills of Castledoor, The Parson Red Heads and Princeton on the same bill. Another chance to catch The World Record, who just popped onto my list of bands I most want to see again.

New Zealander's The Ruby Suns, run through town playing at the First Friday series at The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Their kaleidoscopic rock is a wonder to behold. The Broken West do The Troubadour again.

And, of course, the Radio Free Silver Lake and DJ Manimal Vinyl presented Record Release party for the sublime swampy psychedelia of Xu Xu Fang at The Echo Thursday night (thanks to Scott Schultz for the above photo).

Too much to recount here.  Take the jump and see how the week shapes up.

Interview: Xu Xu Fang

by Joe Fielder

Next Thursday, much-loved "sonically dense" LA act Xu Xu Fang celebrate the release of their latest CD with a FREE show at The Echo, along with VoicesVoices, Downtown Union, and The Voyeurs.

We spoke with drummer/band leader Bobby Tamkin to get "the skinny" on both the CD and the night in question.

Hey, Bobby. So, you have a new CD. Is it an EP or an album?

Hi, Joe. Our new release, Seven Days Now, is a CDep. It has five songs, and one 11-minute headphone extravaganza called "Where is Everybody?" So, stay for the credits.

Photographer Profile: Laurie Scavo

by Joe Fielder

Denver transplant Laurie Scavo recently joined the ranks of excellent music photographers covering the Los Angeles scene like Jeff Koga, Sterling Andrews, Zoe-Ruth Erwin, Simon Cardoza, and Benjamin Hoste. So we wanted to ask her a few questions about starting up and coming to LA, as well as show off a few of our favorite pics from her, y'know, oeuvre.

Welcome to LA! What brought you here? How are you liking it?

Thanks for the welcome! Since college, moving to LA has always been an elusive goal of mine. I think that I wasn't supposed to end up here until I had a direction and grew-up a little. Now that I am out of my soul-searching 20s, and photography has become a driving force in everything I do, I can honestly say that this city was worth the wait. I LOVE LA so much. Everything is better than I imagined. Is that really possible?!

Show Spotlight: Classical Geek Theatre Presents Fiend Folio at Echo Curio this Saturday April 25th!

by Marion Hodges

Brad mentioned this one in his Monday Show Lowdown post, but the line-up for this show is intriguing enough to warrant it's own spotlight post.   I'll be honest, if I were able to attend this show I would be most interested in the sets of Meho Plaza who take the stage at 10pm, and Blue Jungle who take the stage at 12am.  Blue Jungle really impressed me when I saw them at Pehrspace last month, and Meho Plaza have been hovering near the top of my "Bands That I Would Really Like to See Live" list for quite some time now.  The band (Alma Mater) whose set occurs in between the sets of those two bands falls into my personal category of "Bands That Were I 17, and a Boy I Might Have More Patience For, but as a 25 Year Old Girl Who Is Pretty Much Set In Her Ways I Can't be Automatically Inclined to Have too Much Patience For..."

However, isn't that kind of the best part about shows like this one?  The line-up is wide ranging enough to appeal to a variety of music listeners, and there is an excellent chance that you will find yourself enjoying something that you were not aware that you had the capacity to enjoy.  On that note, be sure to arrive early for Roman Candles.  I know pretty much nothing about them, but they could turn out to be a pleasant surprise as well. 

Show Review: Vetiver at the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts

by Brad Roberts

Sunday night, April 12, 2009 was a special evening. I went to see Vetiver in his first of a two night run at the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts. I was anxiously awaiting this show, as his most recent CD, Tight Knit, has been on constant rotation, both on my CD player, and in my head.

It was also a trip to a venue I'd never visited before, which turned out to be easily accessible to a metro-bound rider like myself, with a bus stop just out the front door. It's in the far away land of Eagle Rock, in a beautiful Spanish-revival style building with steps leading up the hill on which it resides. The main hall houses the music and is large and a little cavernous, reminding me of a smaller, more modest Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever.

On Coachella 2009

 By Jed

I'm back from the Mint 400...er...Coachella 2009, and will do my best to give a small sense of what I saw, limited of course, by my memory...

My first trip to Coachella was in 2004, at the urging of a friend of mine who informed me that there was no way that he would permit me to miss the Pixies reunion (even though I had a final in federal income taxation 2 days later).  Five years later, I'm amazed that I'm still a regular (I chose my own graduation ceremony over Coachella 2005, oh well), but considering that the weekend has consistently been one of the best the year, I shouldn't be surprised at my loyalty to the event.  Unlike most previous years, this year my base was a comfortable house in La Quinta, where I could rest my feet, drink margaritas and sip coffee, so things were immediately off to a good start.

TICKET GIVEAWAY: You Me & Iowa, We Fly By Night, The Hectors, Avi Buffalo at Spaceland on Saturday, April 25

by Joel Robinson

Thanks again to the team over at Spaceland, RFSL is able to deliver again. Here's a chance to pick up a free pair of tickets for an evening's entertainment this Saturday. Headlined by LA's own You Me & Iowa who are joined by We Fly By Night, The Hectors, and Avi Buffalo, this promises to deliver a night of fabulous music and fun.

You Me & Iowa are the LA-based quintet using solidly interlocked guitars, boards, and percussion to back interesting, conversational at times, vocals of Andrew Caroll. Definitely a solid sound.