Radio Free Silver Lake

Video Free Silver Lake: Special Pity Party Halloween Cupcake Edition

By Jed

I don't know about you, but I can't wait for the cupcake fad to end. True, the cupcake is a delicious muffin alternative, provides most of the necessary food coloring nutrition to get through the day, and are typically topped with a pleasant dollop of frosting that can be added to one's coffee. But for four dollars? I don't think so, no matter how organic the ingredients. The Pity Party's new Halloweenish themed video for "Stop, Stand Up, Be Quiet, Be Still" further supports my belief that the tyranny of the cupcake must end. See here below, and Happy Halloween!

The video premiered yesterday on Paper Magazine's blog and was directed by Ariana Natale. I particularly enjoy the "Rocky Horror Picture Show"esque opening title.

Interview: The French Semester

by Joe Fielder

LA's The French Semester produce charming shoegaze pop that's really worth your attention. They have a new EP in the works that's joining a pretty solid library of music -- so we spoke with their lead Riaz early last Sunday morning to learn more about it.

Here's the lightlly-edited IM transcript, along with a brand new MP3 off the forthcoming release.

frenchsemester (10:04:54 AM): Good morning, sir. Riaz here...

RFSL (10:05:19 AM): Morning!

RFSL (10:05:27 AM):Sorry I'm a little late.

RFSL (10:05:32 AM): Just grabbing coffee and donuts.

frenchsemester (10:05:48 AM): No problem You're still several hours ahead of me.

RFSL (10:05:51 AM): How are you doing today?

RFSL (10:05:59 AM): Yeah, this is early for me.

RFSL (10:06:43 AM): Or are you still up from last night?

frenchsemester (10:08:13 AM): Nah, previous night was a pretty good blowout over at Echo Curio. Last night was pretty quiet. Been tons of good local shows as I'm sure youre aware. How is the RFSL telecommute treating you?

RFSL (10:08:59 AM): It's going pretty well. I'm sneaking out often and a lot of LA bands have been playing here lately. (Happy Hollows, Henry Clay, Princeton...)

frenchsemester (10:10:28 AM): Nice. Good people, all of them. And I'm sure the idea of actual seasons is appealing to all expats.

RFSL (10:11:22 AM): Yeah, the walk to the donut shop a few minutes ago was frankly kind of stunning. All the bright oranges and yellows and leaves being blown across the street.

RFSL (10:11:29 AM): So, what's new with you guys?

frenchsemester (10:12:53 AM): Where to begin?

Show Review: The Bands Are Possessed!

by Brad Roberts

 

Tuesday, October 27, 2009, was the perfect alchemy of events that leads to great Halloween parties. The wind whipped up as dusk approached, around five o'clock, sometimes gusting up to a rumored 70 mph. It was almost as though people and cars were airborne and you had to duck. Just getting home from work was fraught with danger. By nightfall the air had calmed, giving revellers a chance to get to The Echo with their costumes intact.

 

This was the event that atmospherics had turned upside down. I mean, The Monolators playing at 10 o'clock and not midnight (or one?) had patrons confused and disoriented. And four local bands possessed by the spirit of four legendary classic rockers? How could you not be shocked and scared when you walk in and there's Marc Bolan on stage with T-Rex, looking well, for someone dead over 30 years.

 

Video Free Silver Lake: Shonen Knife, Antlers, Warpaint, Alice Cooper and More

by Jed

Since Halloween is approaching, I offer you the following: werewolves, candy apples and razor blades, the haunting of Milwaukee by Black Star, and a classic Carpenters song. Scary, right? I'm scared. 

1) I can't believe that Japanese girl band Shonen Knife is still alive and kicking. When I was but a high school student, a friend of mine (perhaps as a result of listening too regularly to Rodney on the Roq) used to idolize them. I never got it. I didn't think it was funny. I didn't find it cute. I might have been wrong. I did like their cover of the Carpenter's "Top of the World". They're playing on November 2 at the Echo. If it weren't so early in the week, I might have even been inclined to check it out, just to see who might come out of the wood work for this:

Ticket Giveaway: Le Loup at the Echo October 28...yes, that is tomorrow!!

By Joel Robinson

Yes, faithful Radio Free Silver Lake readers, that is October 28 as in TOMORROW. Thanks to friends over at The Echo, we are able to offer free entry for two RFSL readers and guests to what should be an outstanding show featuring Le Loup (pictured at right) as joined by Nurses and Random Patterns.

Album Review: Light FM "Let There Be Light FM"

by Brad Roberts

 

 

 

A big giant burst of sunny indie pop starts off Light FM's new CD, Let There Be Light FM and sets the stage for a beautifully produced collection of Josiah Mazzaschi's catchy melodies where the lyrics explore the darker and more mysterious aspects of human nature and together form the album's duality. (above photo by Brian Jordan Alvarez) 

 

The sound of the album is not unlike an Earlimart album, which is to say one can feel the influence of Josiah's friend Aaron Espinoza in the polished production values and occasional orchestral sweep of the arrangements. It's a densely packed CD with 14 tracks that starts off with a bang with "Death Toll Rise". Immediately arresting, it's high spiritedness reminds me of the way The Happy Hollows' Spell begins, and that energy permeates the whole album.

The L.A. Show Low Down (Or: "And All That I Have Dreamed, And All That I Have Seen, Wells Up Sometimes Inside Of Me, And Sometimes It Seems To Swallow Me...")

by Brad Roberts

Wow, Halloween has turned into a two week event this year for some reason. I can't recall it ever being so spread out or there being so many theme-related shows. It began last Saturday night at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery's Dia de los Muertos celebration (that's me that night shot by a friend, Vertic Brown, at right) and continues with the most intriguing concept of the week at The Echo on Tuesday where The Voyeurs, The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra, The Monolators and The Karabal Nightlife will disguise their music as four classic rock bands, revealed below. Halloween shows continue through the week leading up to the night itself, when bands as diverse as Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Rob Zombie play Halloween shows.

  

I first learned of Le Loup (above) in 2008 when they were on their way to town to play with The Ruby Suns. I bought their first CD, The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly and was appropriately stunned. At The Echo on April 5, 2008 they performed the material with such passion and artistry, they sounded even better than their CD. With their new CD, Family, they have grown and matured as a band to such a degree, I cannot wait to see what they do at The  Echo this Wednesday. If you want to see one of the hottest bands on the horizon, I urge you not to miss this show.

Hooray!  Radio Free Silver Lake is offering two free tickets to this show. Go here to find out how.

Interview: Correatown

by Joe Fielder

It's been more than a year since we last interviewed LA singer/songwriter Angela Correa, who performs w/ her band under the moniker of Correatown. And, hell, they've been playing the FREE Monday night residency at The Echo all month, so we figured we were far overdue.

acorrea (8:11:18 PM): Hey, Joe! It's Angela

RFSL (8:11:23 PM): Hi, Angela.

RFSL (8:11:32 PM): How the hell are you? How have you been?

acorrea (8:11:52 PM): I've been good... It's been awhile, right?

acorrea (8:12:16 PM): Thanks for taking the time to do a little catch up.

RFSL (8:12:38 PM): Sure thing. How have the residency shows been so far?

acorrea (8:12:57 PM): They've been pretty fun...

RFSL (8:12:57 PM): I've been out of LA but reading tweets from the bloggerati and photogs about them.

acorrea (8:13:10 PM): I wasn't sure what to expect, you know?

acorrea (8:13:45 PM): in terms of turnout and what not- but it's been really fun each. The line ups have been wonderful. I've really enjoyed the bands we've played with.

Show Review - A Place to Bury Strangers, Darker My Love, All The Saints at the Echoplex 10/06/09

by Seamus Simpson

I understand the rush for every generation to want to anoint people from its tribe to be the next “fill in the blank” type of band. A Place to Bury Strangers have been deemed the second coming of My Bloody Valentine and while I see reasons for the comparison, I can't agree with the choice. However, despite my objections to their recorded material, I ventured out last Friday to the Echoplex to see for myself. The line snaked around the block when I arrived signaling how much ground the band had gained since their last jaunt to L.A. which included a stop at the markedly smaller Silverlake Lounge. Being a tad late I unfortunately missed openers All The Saints, but I can remark that they seemed to be a dapper group of gentleman judging solely by their sartorial choices and not a note of what they played. What can I say, I am shallow that way and willing to judge a band on those merits alone.

Video Free Silver Lake: Duck Sauce, Lloyd Cole, Learning Music, Rose Mehlberg

By Jed

Damn! I really would have liked to have seen Grizzly Bear last night! Sadly, it wasn't to be. Bad things happen to good people, right? I suppose we'll have to make due with the following, my friends:

1) First, via Pitchfork, Duck Sauce's video for the knee-pumping disco jam, Ghost parody "aNYway" almost knocked me out of my month and a half long bad mood. Unfortunately, the song ended, and back I was. Enjoy this:

2) Blast from the past Lloyd Cole is playing the Troubadour on 10/22.  I primarily know Lloyd Cole for two reasons: First, the song Rattlesnakes was famously covered by Tori Amos on her 2001 cover album "Strange Little Girls." Cole's video for "Rattlesnakes" is pretty lo-fi, but features a fine snapshot of the highways of 1984 (and maybe a bit of Sunset Blvd) and also some eye-rolling of the time.  Unfortunately, no embedding allowed.