1) Junior High are a San Diego based synth pop duo whose work hearkens back to the grand old days of synth pop -- the early 80s. Or the early 2000s. The new video for "PSA" is shot in the style of a public television show, and includes a number of 1980's signifiers, which you can identify for yourself if you watch the video. The purpose of the Public Service Announcement is to encourage partying. They play tonight at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa, the 80's nostalgia capital of the Western Region.
1) I felt guilty hitting "post" last week without making any mention of the death of Beastie Boys' Adam "MCA" Yauch, but rationalized my decision by telling myself that this was work better left for others, and no one needs me to show them the awesome Spike Jonze directed video for "Sabotage" (1994) once again. But my best intentions were thwarted. See here this all-small-children reenactment of the video directed by Portland-based filmmaker James Winters. It is fantastic. P.S. I have a theory that the video for "Sabotage" introduced kids of my generation to the idea that "mustaches are cool/funny."
1) RFSL has been a long time supporter of Le Switch, formerly The Switch, the now no longer existent local band of which Aaron Kyle was the lead singer. The various "Switch" incarnations always incorporated an element of "Americana" and "Country Folk", but Mr. Kyle's new project, Geronimo Getty (click for additional new tracks) has allowed him to focus more closely on these specific genres. Watch the new video for "Darkness Hides", in which Mr. Kyle is haunted by ghosts (special effects!) Notice some familiar names in the band's lineup: Lead Guitar: Chris Harrison, Bass: Seb Bailey, Violin: Morgan Gerstmar, Drums: Brian Soika. It's directed by Art Blevins. Geronimo Getty will be playing at 1642 Beer and Wine on May 27.
1) Knock and Rock is a new, and remarkably bold web series created, directed and edited by Kalen Egan, which features local bands, knocking on the doors of strangers in the neighborhood, and performing "impromptu concert sets". Watch below Episode #16 (I guess I overstated its "new"ness) in which Radars to the Sky plays a live set for a family of musicians. Stay until the end if you want to see a tiny child play the drums along with the band (and keep better rhythm than I could. The webseries is produced and recorded by Noelia Estrada and shot by Sam Molleur and Kalen Egan.
1) In the new Manhattan Murder Mystery video for "Honda Prius", Matthew Teardrop wears sunglasses similar to those I wore at this year's Coachella, and the band performs it at Slab City, an RV camp located in the remote desert of southeastern California. It is directed by Mike James.
1) Here are videos from some of my favorite performances from the first weekeend of Coachella 2012:
Radiohead's entire set. This was my favorite performance of the festival. I re-watched this video last night, and was shocked to discover that it was nearly 2 hours long. It seemed incredibly brief at the time:
1) L.A.'s twin brother duo Princeton recently performed in a Yours Truly session for Pitchfork, which sounds great, but sadly, cannot be embedded. So watch it here.
2) Porcelain Raft is playing a sold out show at the Troubadour tomorrow, April 12th, opening for the very buzzed about Youth Lagoon. See below for their very smokey video for the smokey sounding "Drifting in and Out." The concept of the video appears to be that the band is "drifting in and out" of view.
1) The production quality of Judson Mckinney's videos seems only to improve over time. In his recent video for "Meet Me in the Morning", a handful of friends engage in colored plastic gunplay in a field, and spin the bottle with a knife while Judson is sprinkled with confetti. There's also a levitating orange. Judson's come a long way from busking outside to Echo to putting out videos with special effects. Directed by the consistently talented Christopher J. Ewing.
1) The Lonely Wild have released another video from their session with the very safe for work "Jam in the Van" series. Here is there unsurprisingly tight performance of "Over Edgeware". I must say...I've always enjoyed the Lonely Wild, but touring seems to have done them quite a bit of good.
2) bikos' new video for Y3k is reportedly inspired by R.E.M's "Imitation of Life", although the song is much more punk/new wave than late-R.E.M. pop. The band and a variety of their friends can be seen goofing around in a backyard, typically accompanied by a large clock, which must represent anxiety about the passing of time, the coming of new millenia, computer malfunction, an abundance of stringed instruments?
This week's music news and energies were devoted almost entirely to SXSW (which, despite coming up on EIGHT Coachellas, am yet to attend) so has been very slow in terms of the release of new video. I've tried to track down live performances from either L.A. or Icelandic bands that played at the festival and even those have been hard to come by. Here's my best shot!
1) L.A.'s Dawes (whose sound I would compare to the singer/songwriters of the American 1970s -- the name Jackson Browne comes to mind, but this might be the result of having seen mention of them doing a duet with him) played at SXSW last week. Here they are playing "Fire Away" at Cedar Street Courtyard.
2) The soon to be uncomfortably popular Icelandic band Of Monsters and Men also played a set at Cedar Street during SWXW (they also did a set for Rachel Ray's showcase). KEXP put up a very nice writeup of OMAM's time at SXSW.
3) To my surprise, Stephin Merritt and our Magnetic Fields made an appearance or two as well at SXSW. Here they are performing "Plant White Roses" at the Parish for an NPR showcase. They'll be playing at the Orpheum on Friday. I'm going and I can't wait!
And finally, I was pleased to stumble upon this very pretty cover by L.A.'s Princeton of the Magnetic Field's "Why I Cry":
4) Here's the very gimmicky, but still entertaining He's My Brother, She's My Sister (apparently actually siblings), as well as their everpresent tapdancer playing "Same Old Ground" for IFC.
5) And finally, see here for Saint Motel's "unofficial" video for "Honest Feedback" (all 1960s stock footage, but it's an excuse to listen to the song). What do you prefer..."Honest Feedback" or "Country Feedback"?
For next week, I'd really like to feature the most lively and refreshing showings from LA's local acts at last weeks SXSW. Feel more than free to email me with suggestions at rfsljed at gmail dot com.
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