HEADS UP

Belle & Sebastian
Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Tuesday, October 5
Tickets on sale @ 12 noon today
[Tickets & Info]

DF’s many devoted readers constantly bombard Losanjealous with emails desperately desiring to get behind the scenes of his creative process.  [This has never happened.—Ed.]  Just how does a DF derby writeup happen?  What kind of things is DF writing so diligently in that cheap-ass CVS steno pad?  Are the countless spelling and grammar errors intentional expressions of some kind of overwrought irony, or merely the product of the author’s fourth-grade education?  And how can a human being write anything after typically ingesting twelve to fourteen Zima-and-A1-sauce cocktails before even sitting down at the keyboard?

Well, this time around, readers, you’re in for a treat!  Batten down the hatches, load up the Bessemer converters, untie Aunt Tilly and bring her down from the attic, because DF’s going to throw aside the curtain and expose the writing process all proud and impressive and exceeding expectations like when Toto exposed the Wizard.  He’ll not only take you through last Sat eve’s spine-titillating Cookies v. Sirens tilt, but will show you the real-time, textually accurate notes on which his hi-end derby reportage was based.  Oh, it’s going to be terribly interesting.  Here we go!

~7.20pm.  Wind 23knots, SSW.  Excitement palpable.  Sweating profusely.  May drop and/or soil pants.

OK, here I was logging crucial pre-game conditions and expressing my pre-game, post-hiatus sense of heightened anticipation in the throbbing din of the Doll Fac.  The pants-dropping and/or soiling may seem a bit extreme, but hey—this was not only the first bout after a protracted hiatus, but also a critical face-off between the undefeated-in-2010, two-time defending champ Tough Cookies and the ever-dangerous Sirens.  For the Cookies, a win would more or less have locked up their third consecutive Champs Bout berth; for the Sirens, victory would have meant a tie for the league lead.  Pretty momentous, eh?  Now who’s dropping and/or soiling their pants?

»continue reading A Midsummer Night’s Scream: Sirens v. Tough Cookies @ the Doll Factory, 8/31/2010

Attention, Los Angeles: The Natural History Museum is currently seeking a puppeteer to fill the role of a sabre-toothed cat. Details from their website:

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County seeks a Puppeteer to work with our Education and Exhibits department as a full-suit puppeteer for a SABER-TOOTHED CAT as part of the Museum’s educational performing arts programming.

Further:

Must carry 73 pounds on back in a crawling position, supported by arm stilts for periods of 20 minutes multiple times a day. Weight distributed on forearms, shoulders and back. Restrictive straps at chest, waist, arms and thighs. Extremely hot, claustrophobic full suit puppet with limited sight range.

Qualified applicants can apply at the NHM site today. Good luck!

» Help Wanted: Sabre-Toothed Cat Puppeteer [NHM]

HEADS UP
Interpol @ Ye Auld Space 15 Twenty Parking Lot
Tuesday, September 7, 2010: 7-8pm
(Free w/album purchase or and/or via random txtmsg entries)

PHOTO: !!! in Los Angeles by Jeannette some years back

PICK OF THE WEEK & TICKET GIVEAWAY
FYF Fest 2010:Rapture, Panda Bear, Sleep, Unbroken, !!!, Man Man, Ted Leo & the RX, Mountain Goats, Ariel Pink, Oh Sees, Delorean, Washed Out, Dead Man’s Bones, School of Seven Bells, Titus And., Wavves, Best Coast, Davila 666, 7 Seconds, many more
Los Angeles State Historic Park
Saturday, September 4, 2010
(ENTER TO WIN TICKETS)

TUESDAY
Green Day w/ AFI @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Jenny & Johnny @ Amoeba

WEDNESDAY
Herbie Hancock @ Hollywood Bowl (Seven Decades – A Birthday Celebration)
Ryan Bingham & Dead Horses: The Drop @ The GRAMMY Museum, Downtown (ENTER TO WIN TICKETS)
Reflectacles, Bonedaddys, Princeton w/ Bill Rosendahl @ West LA Bandshell (free)

»continue reading Losanjealous Concert Picks & Ticket Giveaways: August 31 – September 6, 2010

The Antlers | antlersmusic.com

The Getty | Saturdays Off the 405

Industrial rockers Filter jumpstarted the Sunset Strip Music Festival weekend with serious charge and electricity, rocking The Roxy hard on Thursday, August 26.

Not much rock has been deserving of the title “Hard Rock” lately. Hell, even the Hard Rock Hotel in Vegas has Britney Spears’ tour costume up. Nope, no rhinestones and pop at The Roxy on Thursday, just screaming, thundering rock, dressed head to toe in black – from Richard Patrick’s sweaty, short black hair down to his all black chucks.

They kicked off their set with “The Take” from Anthems from the Damned, followed by “The Inevitable Relapse,” the first single from their new album, The Trouble with Angels. Frontman Richard Patrick was feeding off the sheer energy of the show, impassioned, almost possessed. His signature crouching down and screaming, and spitting and throwing water, riled the overheated crowd on anthems like “Welcome to the Fold” and “American Cliche.” Truly, an awesome frontman.

Review continues below.

»continue reading Filter at The Roxy, August 26, 2010

Uncle Darrow’s Cajun Eatery is a restaurant near the corner of Washington and Lincoln Boulevard that you might want to frequent this week. Uncle Darrow’s did everything they could to move ninety tons of supplies from Los Angeles to Houston after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina five years ago, all on a volunteer basis.

One might miscategorize the deep frier pedigree and modest floorspace for fast food but this establishment is a scotch more bigger on the insides of your mouth than between the walls. Let me cut and paste a portion of a five star write-up: “rich, complex jambalaya, savory gumbo, delicious red beans and rice as well as fried catfish, po’ boys, cobbler, sweet potato pies and everything else you’d expect from a Cajun/Creole restaurant.”

Linda, no Bitty in the BK Lounge, recommends a chicken link patty with the casing off, grilled, on french bread fully-dressed with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, mayo and mustard (for me no mayo) and a side of greens. I sense a soupçon of amusement in tempting me with homemade banana pudding on a spoon. She has powerful warm sympathies for my Yankee bias, and if I think Cajun can’t possibly be low carb, she won’t put de gris-gris on me. But that modified Economically Disadvantaged Young Man Sandwich is in no way disenfranchised in taste. I rip it apart with my bare teeth. High in protein, reasonably low in carbs if you ask.

Charity aside, Uncle Darrow’s is a bonafide West Side rarity and a unique part of the LA culinary pallet. For those of us in the neighborhood, it is a fabled canteen that truly does distinguish itself from a BK. There’s live entertainment on the back porch every Thursday and Sunday. Joe Banks blows two trumpets at the same time while his side men, T. Tadson and Chris Jones, back him up on guitar and bass. Joe Banks has 75 Grammy award-winning songs to his credit and was among Motown’s original session musicians. He’s performed with Smokey Robinson, Quincy Jones, Miles Davis, all the heavyweights. And he’s open to jam with anyone who wants to sit in.

Owner Norwood Clarke greets me in person at the door, as he does for everyone. He’s a southern gentleman with a grass roots strategy of getting word out via YouTube commercials, Twitter and Facebook. Everything he says underscores the burden of being a good man in a harsh and duplicitous place, evidenced by a touch of gray in his scruffy beard and wrinkles around sharp eyes. Racing from thought to thought, the entrepreneurial chef strains against the weight, or perhaps the outrage, of a restaurant functioning at 25% capacity that should be franchising. The “no pork, no beef” Louisiana soul food has won salutations from politicians, celebrities and passersby, but the downsides of price (my meal is $9-ish), portion size and cooking time may be keeping people back.

NORWOOD CLARKE

MFV: How did you get started?

NC: Man… »continue reading Uncle Darrow’s–A Chat with Norwood Clarke, Chef Owner of the Westside Cajun Eatery

The Rapture, Panda Bear, Unbroken, Sleep, Dead Man’s Bones, Ted Leo And The Pharmacists, !!!, Local Natives, Man Man, The Mountain Goats, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Delorean, Cold Cave, 7seconds, Thee Oh Sees, Washed Out, Davila 666, School Of Seven Bells, AA Bondy, The Blow, Best Coast, Titus Andronicus, Wavves, Vetiver, The Soft Pack, Abe Vigoda, Warpaint, Off!, Ceremony, Big Freedia, Cults, Screaming Females, Magic Kids, The Growlers, The Goat, Lower Dens, Let’s Wrestle, Dublab Soundsystem. Comedians Janeane Garofalo, David Koechner, Paul Scheer, The Sklar Brothers, Matt Besser, Matt Braunger, Jen Kirkman, Brent Weinbach, Brody Stevens, Jarrett Grode, Matt Dwyer, Kyle Kinane, Harris Wittels

HEADS UP

Ghostland Observatory @ Club Nokia Thu 11/4
Deer Tick @ El Rey Tue 10/19
Guitar Wolf w/ Hans Condor @ El Rey Sun 10/3
Cornershop @ El Rey Mon 11/15
Peter Hook Presents Unknown Pleasures @ Music Box Sat 12/11
The Posies & Brendan Benson w/ Aqueduct @ Club Nokia Fri 12/3
Idlewild @ The Echo Wed 11/17
Idlewild @ The Echo Tue 11/16
Margaret & the Nuclear So-Sos @ Echoplex Sun 11/14
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ Echoplex Fri 11/12
Kurt Vile @ Echoplex Thu 11/11
Yelle @ The Echo Fri 11/5
Moving Units @ Troubadour Fri 10/29
White Denim @ Spaceland Tue 11/2
Lights @ El Rey Tue 10/26

Photo of Brendan Benson with The Raconteurs by Sung from Coachella 2008

»continue reading Tickets: Interpol @ Fox Theater Pomona, October 19–Pre-sale This Morning

Alas, summer 2010 is drawing to a close in Losanjealous.  You can tell from the oppressive suffocating heat and the leaves beginning to take their seasonal turn from green to … slightly less green.  And since readers have been pelting me constantly with emails about this, allow me to disclose that DF has had a typically robust and fruitful summer.   Why, here’s my list of summer 2010 goals:

1. Acquire pet monkey, train it to give everyone the finger.  Done.

2. Visit Malawi and tell President Binga wa Mutharika just what I think of his retrograde agriculture-subsidy policies.  Achieved.

3. Emerge dominant in local competitive-belching circuit.  Success.

4. Travel to Mitteleuropa, attend the famed Liechtensteiner Spaetzli-Faescht in the company of a midget, hobo, and/or midget hobo.  Check and double check.

And yet there is something missing.  There is a growing, gnawing pang inside.  Initially, I assumed it was acute nausea thanks to eating that sardine grinder with extra A1 sauce.  But even hours (and some truly world-class bazooka-barfing sessions) later, it is still with me.  Aha!  It’s the ache of unfinished business–of a task yet to be completed.  Indeed, here’s the last item on DF’s summer to-do list:

5.  Attend, observe, and get spectacularly inebriated at, roller derby bout.  UNFINISHED.

But thank God, Jesus, Baby Jesus, Allah, and affiliated deities that there’s still time to achieve this final goal of the season!  For the lovely ladies of the LA Derby Dolls have completed their hiatus, and there is a bout this very Sat eve, August 28, at the Doll Factory twixt the Sirens (1-1) and the two-time defending champion Tough Cookies (2-0).  Stakes is high:  A Cookies win puts them within spittin’ distance of another Champs berth, while a Sireens victory would launch them into the league lead instead.   Get yer tixes ASAP, and join DF, LADD, and their merrie band of followers as we bring summer 2010 to an apolocalyptically spectacular conclusion.

In the unlikely event that you were left unconvinced by the foregoing, observe this amusing video preview of the Sirens/TCs bout.  You are also welcome to follow DF on twitter, though be warned that most of the tweets are breathtaking in their sheer tastelessness.

Photo by Sir Clicks-A-Lot.  (c) 2010 by LA Derby Dolls.  All rights reserved.

Photo gallery below.

»continue reading Rufus Wainwright, Greek Theater, August 20, 2010

We are now following on twitter. We have had an account for some time now but, you know us, we tend to follow our own path so we do not really follow. But now, we are following somebody.

This week’s twitter follow winner is NORWOOD YOUNG. Congrats Norwood, we’re hanging on to your every 140 characters for seven full days and nights. We may agree with you on twitter. We may retweet one or more of your tweets; we may laugh-out-loud at your tweets, time and again.

To have Losanjealous follow you, simply follow and mention @losanjealous in one of your tweets this week. That will give you a chance at being followed by Losanjealous for seven whole days. That’s it; gotta run and check Norwood’s feed and respond appropriately if need be. Later.

PICK OF THE WEEK
Chemical Brothers w/ Chromeo & Yacht @ Hollywood Bowl
KCRW World Festival
Sunday, August 29
[Info]

The brothers gonna work it out at the bowl Sunday with assistance from Chromeo, Yacht, Jason Bentley and more than a few wine bottles rolling down cement stairs. Classic Chemical Brothers photos and a writeup by Sung from Nocturnal ’07 on site here.

TUESDAY
GZA w/ Freddie Gibbs, Kendrick Lamar, Toks & Abcnt @ Echoplex (ENTER TO WIN TICKETS)

WEDNESDAY
Jason Falkner w/ The Spires @ Spaceland (ENTER TO WIN TICKETS)
Norah Jones w/ Corinne Bailey Rae @ Greek Theatre

»continue reading Losanjealous Concert Picks: August 23-29, 2010

Photo gallery below.

»continue reading Rodrigo y Gabriela, Greek Theater, August 18, 2010

My neighbor is writer and guitarist Jeremy Simon of Dylan Trees. One night, never having said boo to the guy, I crash his birthday bash with ten slices of Abbott’s pizza to make first contact. Soon we’re catching up on LA bands, footnotes and influences, Brian Wilson’s “Smile” and Nick Drake. Jeremy’s from London, closed and yet endless. I like his positive impression of Los Angeles and didn’t think Londoners left King Henry VIII and the Daleks behind for our music scene.

He invites me to review Dylan Trees at The Airliner.

THE AIRLINER

The Airliner is off the 405 to the 10 to the 5 North, exit Broadway. Go a few blocks down the boulevard and you’ll see it. Tonight the sign says, “Go Folk Yourself”.

Inside is a three story doll house with separate stages and self-contained atmospheres. Lowest, a small barroom nook run by Gordy the Barkeep. A brash young man observes me riffing into my digital recorder and says, “Nothing wrong with folk.” No there ain’t. I ain’t no post-punk skeleton gone trick-or-treating. I listen to Steeleye Span, John Renbourn, The Incredible String Band, Donovan, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, The Indigo Girls, Beck, Michelle Shocked, Elliott Smith, Freedy Johnston, Lach’s Antihoot Night at The Sidewalk Cafe… And I know the theme to “Bumblebee Tuna”.

I walk up a spiral staircase to a large unused kick-ass outdoor stage. Beneath the nighttime sky, the staircase empties into a market where a woman sells clothes and oils. I look for Jeremy on the top level. There’s a blonde in her early twenties playing the small stage, xylophone with her right hand and harpsichord with her left, Bach-like fugues on the organ, impassioned piano, singing a bit like Julee Cruise. A crowd gathers.

Monica Olive, singer for Dylan Trees, finds me in the corner grooving. She’s happy to remind me that she, being vegetarian, welcomed the mushroom slices I brought over. She’s dolled up in very dramatic evening make up. Quite fashionable. Jeremy’s wearing a white evening jacket, white pants and a shirt that says “I Like Acid”. He introduces me to Rob Fanter, the band’s watchful and philosophic programmer, bassist and drummer.

Tonight’s all screwed up, Jeremy relates. Dylan Trees were supposed to go on at 11 but the second stage is closed, so it’s closer to 12:30 downstairs.

So we’ve got some time.

»continue reading Dylan Trees at The Airliner

Full photo gallery below.

»continue reading Tokyo Police Club, Outside Lands Festival 2010, Sunday, August 15

Photo gallery below.

»continue reading Phoenix, Outside Lands Festival 2010, Sunday, August 15

Full photo gallery below.

»continue reading The Temper Trap, Outside Lands Festival 2010, Sunday, August 15