Radio Free Silver Lake

Undercovered III Captured on Tape by Recording LA

By Kathryn Pinto

On April 7, Radio Free Silver Lake celebrated six years of covering the Silver Lake and eastside music scene with Undercovered III, a night of live music at the Satellite by LA bands covering other LA bands' songs. One Trick Pony, Rob Danson (Death to Anders), College Kids (featuring members of Rademacher), Dawn of Sequins ( Eli and Mary from The Monolators) and  The Californian, played.

Audio of the evening was captured by the tapers over at Recording LA. Those guys wrote some very kind words about our show and broke down a full set list for the evening, in addtition to posting the audio. I don't want to steal any thunder from them so I'm just going to direct you over to their site where you can read more.

Read Recording LA's post about Undercovered III.
Download the audio here.

New Track: Marvelous Toy "El Infiel"

By Kathryn Pinto

At the risk of overstating the obvious, Marvelous Toy has released some pretty great material this year. Tomorrow night "El Infiel" the first single from their upcoming album Not Moving, makes its television debut on American Horror Story on FX. In anticipation, Radio Free Silver Lake is streaming a sneak preview of "El Infiel." As I wrote earlier of the band, "We fell hard for Marvelous Toy when they played at Radio Free Silver Lake residency at the now defunct Labrie’s in Glendale. Somewhere between the colorful narrative storytelling of the songwriting and the high energy theatrics of the live show, Jordan and the band leave it all on the field with a goofy sincerity and high octane performance."

Marvelous Toy "El Infiél" by rfslpinto

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Marvelous Toy's single 'El Infiél' will be featured this Wednesday on the Season Finale of American Horror Story on FX on December 21st at 10pm.

Five Songs: Just An Animal, Marvelous Toy, NO, Burroughs, Bleached Black

By Kathryn Pinto

I'm on the road this week and it's strange not to be planning out a week of shows to see in Echo Park and Silver Lake. Not that show withdrawal has set in yet, I did go practically from the Duniven, Bixby Knolls show right to the airport, and in New York I already caught a solo set from Jordan of Marvelous Toy. So instead of previewing shows, here are the songs that have been stuck in my head on the first part of this trip.

“Into the Fire" Just an Animal  Lonely Hunter

Nothing on tape has compares to the live show from Just An Animal, but to go to a couple shows is to be compelled to spend more time with these songs from the new project of the members of the former Red Cortez and the Weather Underground. "Into the Fire" reminds me in the best possible way of an alternate track for the Sixteen Candles soundtrack, maybe for a scene with a tear-smeared mascara Molly Ringwald running down a hallway outside the school dance. (Band photo courtesy of the band's Tumblr page, photographer not known)

“Subway Driver” Marvelous Toy Not Moving
Download song
For a band known for its joyful performances and exuberant hairdo antics, "Subway Driver" plumbs some dark caverns of the heart.  It's as straight up sad as anything on the Manhattan Murder Mystery album

New Tracks, a Couple New Ways to Keep in Touch

By Kathryn Pinto

With all the new music coming out in the next couple of months, and all the great live shows coming up, we've added a couple of ways to bounce around the internet to keep up with Radio Free Silver Lake. Check out our new Sound Cloud page, and  then yeah we finally got around to adding a facebook page where you can like us. You know the drill.

Streaming over at Sound Cloud we've got a couple of tracks from the Californian from their soon to be released self-titled full length, two from Manhattan Murder Mystery's excellent recent release,  a song from the College Kids and one from  Rademacher's Baby Hawk (Part I of III)  that released today on bandcamp.

 

Popfest Highlight of the Week: Suburban Kids With Biblical Names/Springfactory

By Marion Hodges

(Photo credit to Dominick Mastrangelo via Brooklyn Vegan)

It wasn't supposed to happen this way of course.  I was supposed to arrive home from New York very late on that Monday night, go straight to bed, and wake up the next morning feeling refreshed and ready to compose a full report of the NYC Popfest for Web in Front before dashing off to San Francisco the following day for more Popfest fun, and another comprehensive write up for this page.  Surely I should have foreseen that these excellent intentions would inevitably backfire in the most spectacular fashion.

Or maybe not.  I am now more of the opinion that Popfests are not necessarily designed to inspire comprehensive, and/or entirely objective journalism.  At least that wasn't the case for me.  Both Popfest experiences were a complete blur of giddy toasts/excited conversations with new best friends, declarative statements such as, "Oh this is my new favorite band!" (even though you knew you would contradict that statement moments later when you heard your new new favorite band, and overall it was about just having fun.  It was about taking a long weekend out of your life (or for those of us that were very lucky, back to back weekends) where nothing was required to be taken seriously, and everything was there to be enjoyed.  So it's with that mindset that I've decided to publish a list of highlights rather than a complete overview.  And if the feeling only lasts as long as it takes me to write this series of posts, well then at least for that time each performance that I've chosen to highlight here (as well as those to which I will give honorable mention) will remain the best performance by any band, ever.

So with that said, there is no other logical place for me to begin  my Popfest report than with the one two punch of Suburban Kids With Biblical Names/Springfactory who with their combined force (and the fact that both bands played both festivals) remain my festival highlights head and shoulders above anything else that I saw during either weekend.

New Song: "Handshakes and Earthquakes" - Death to Anders

by Brad Roberts

In anticipation of their appearance at the Amateurs EP release show this Friday, May 15, Death to Anders has released an mp3 of a new song called "Handshakes and Earthquakes". Click right here to DL.

I asked lead Rob Danson what's next, recording wise, for the band. He said they're recording a variety of new material, some with full band, some acoustic, for a medium not yet determined. It could be a CD, an EP or a vinyl release. Ultimately, Rob said, he'd like it to be broadcast on the backs of burros taking tourists down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. 

The song itself is a sharp barb about the music industry and the corporate music versus independent artist dynamic. Witty and acerbic, it's in the trademark Death to Anders style. Maybe that's why most recent shows have opened with this number.

It's a potent subject for exploration and as music moves further and further away from corporate control, and as artists have more and more avenues for music distribution on their own terms, it will continue to unleash unbridled creativity. Death to Anders is a prime example of just that discipline.

Also on the bill at Spaceland Friday night, May 15, is another wonderful band, The World Record, making it a show not to be missed.