»continue reading M.I.A. @ Echoplex, 7/30/07

Los Angeles! The cityscape is peppered with frontage oddities, to be sure. Façaddities. You got that big record stack in tinseltown. You got a whole swath Normandie-style dwellings from the 1920s that could only be described as castle-rific, mid-city. You got houses on stilts built right into the sides of the damn hills. You got that nefarious Addams Family-looking thing up on Franklin. You got locksmith shacks. You got statue shacks. You got shacks, man. What I’m trying to say. You got mixed media: Yesterday I drove past a taco truck in Highland Park situated underneath a very old, very heavy permanently-fixed sign advertising the verysame taco truck squatting beneath it. You’ve no longer got Clifton’s Pacific Seas, but Brookdale on Broadway keeps the memory alive. You got the Marina Del Rey Courtyard Marriot (8 state-of-the-art meeting rooms), and you got Oki-Dog. Oddities man. They’re out there.

Curbed LA recently did a bang-up job of tracking down the ugliest building in Los Angeles, and we thank them for it. However a few facades have transcended their earthly kin and entered that hallowed, highest echelon of facadeness: Goofiness. Let’s examine three champions now. One’s a house, two are apartments.

1) El Bordello Alexandra
Venice Beach is home to many things. Dragon decor is but one. This apartment complex on Westminster became increasingly foolish during the 2.72 years in which I lived around the corner. At present it’s a façaddity you would be hard pressed to top.

»continue reading Frontage Poll: The Goofiest Facade Of Them All

PICK OF THE WEEK

MARNIE STERN @ Echoplex

Good stretch for ladies that rock coming up here with Marnie, M.I.A., The Slits, even Victoria Williams, all in town this week. Ms. Stern gets the nod for her great arty rock tunes executed with mind blowing virtuosity all over her Jazzmaster’s fretboard. Some kind of genius, now backed by a full band.

THE FORMAT
w/ Limbeck
Avalon | Wed 8/1
Contest over — Ticket info here

VHS OR BETA
w/ Gran Ronde
Troubadour | Fri 8/3
Contest over — Ticket info here

THE SLITS
w/ Icarus Line
El Rey Theater | Fri 8/3
Contest over — Ticket info here

BILLY BOB THORNTON
w/ The Boxmasters
El Rey Theater | Sat 8/4
Contest over — Ticket info here

Blair @ Silverlake Lounge Tue 8/7
Montag w/ The One AM Radio @ The Echo Tue 8/14
VHS or Beta @ Glass House Sun 9/16
Dr. Dog @ Troubadour Thu 9/20
Bob Mould @ The Roxy Mon 9/17
Jamie T @ Troubadour Wed 9/26
DJ Krush @ Glass House Fri 9/28
Justice @ Henry Fonda Tue 10/9
Fujiya & Miyagi @ Echoplex Sat 10/13
Jose Gonzalez @ El Rey Wed 10/10
Mt Eerie @ Troubadour Wed 10/10
Roky Erickson w/ 1990s @ El Rey Sun 10/28
Ted Leo + Pharmacists @ El Rey Tue 10/30
Two Gallants & Blitzen Trapper @ El Rey Thu 10/18
Lyrics Born @ El Rey Fri 11/16

TUESDAY
Bat For Lashes @ Spaceland
Culver City Dub Collective @ Fingerprints (Long Beach – free in-store)
M.I.A. @ Echoplex (Tickets at door NOS)
Peter Bjorn & John @ Henry Fonda

WEDNESDAY
The Format, Limbeck @ Avalon
The Swell Season @ El Rey

THURSDAY
Blair @ Hotel Cafe (early 7 pm set)
Hugh Masekela @ Skirball (free)
Marnie Stern @ Echoplex
Pop Levi, The Shys @ The Roxy

FRIDAY
Gravy Train!!! w/ Mika Miko @ Echoplex
The Slits w/ Icarus Line @ El Rey
VHS or Beta @ Troubadour

SATURDAY
St. Vincent @ Echo
Billy Bob Thornton @ El Rey
Pterodactyl @ The Scene
Si Se @ The Roxy
Victoria Williams @ Largo (C.L. Berryhill’s Songs of Protest)

SUNDAY
1990s @ The Echo

»continue reading Maximo Park @ El Rey, 7/27/07

Say Hi To Your Mom

»continue reading Say Hi To Your Mom, The Ringers @ Knitting Factory, 7/26/07

Hundreds of you mailed in last Friday, outraged and dismayed at the first published photo taken by one of the new 2-megapixel, flash-enabled wireless devices™ being issued all Losanjealous field agents post-haste. In the hopes of placating said reproaches, we now present Photo #2: Serious hangover fare courtesy the always reliable Cactus (coincidentally itself also #2 [aka Ktown Cactus ... not Home-Of-The-Crazies Cactus . . .])

Lineup:
1 – Asada con todo s
2 – Chorizo con todo s
2 – Al Pastor con todo s
1 – Sope con Birria (!)
1 – 32 oz. Horchata, fourth of the eight 32-oz drinks consumed that grueling afternoon

»continue reading Midnight Movies, Sea Wolf @ Hammer Museum, 7/26/07 (Also I Like To Rock)

Likely I should have posted this earlier, but I just got around to maneuvering the brand-new Culver City Dub Collective CD out of its slot near the bottom of an inordinately tall “will-listen-to-soon” stack in a move that can only be described as Jenga (Damn fine CD with guest contributions from the mighty Money Mark among others, BTW). On to topic: You really have no excuse for not listening to Dub the next couple of days:

• Lee Perry invades the House of Blues Saturday
• Culver City Dub Collective throws a beer-, taco- and record-fueled release bash in Venice the same night (RSVP info below)
• CCDC then hits the Malibu Inn Sunday evening

Dub accordingly, denizens. Here’s a bit to get you started.

CCDC official site | label | myspazz

»continue reading The Rapture @ Mayan Theater, 7/25/07

As a non-subtle reminder Losanjealous constantly mines, sorts and processes the cruddiest cell phone photos ever taken, weekly, for your cheap enjoyment. Friday, the week’s most egregious is bestowed the honor CRAPTASTIC CELL PHONE PHOTO OF THE WEEK.

Only in Los Angeles. This week’s winner was captured via Palm Treo by a reader who prefers to remain anonymous. Unfortunately I have no clue as to where this was taken. What I do know is that the e-mailed submission was date-stamped around midnight last Friday. Tonight, Friday, at midnight, think of me and send me a few fucking terrible photos from your phone device. Won’t you, please.

After the jump, your photo submission instructions and THE FIRST PUBLISHED PHOTO from my all-new, non-RAZR, 2-megapixel, autoflash-inclusive device: An unbelievable capture from last night’s free Midnight Movies gig @ the Hammer.

(WARNING: TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY SFW….YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS ONE…SERIOUSLY THIS IS FUCKING SFW Y’ALLS…CAVEAT LOOKTOR….VIEWER BEWARE)
»continue reading Craptastic Cell Phone Photo of the Week: The Love Of My Life

Depending on your perspective, Los Angeles today may have either lost or regained a small slice of its soul. Seven For All Mankind Jeans has been sold to North Carolina-based VF Corporation for a sum that can only be described as “whopping” $775 Million. The Los Angeles-founded brand affected culture in a way few do, pioneering the high-end jeans market with its launch in 2000.

For kicks, a bit of unintelligible business press release-ese follows. (Which I swear is its own distinct dialect of English):

“These brands extend our reach to important and growing consumer segments, broaden our presence in healthy and growing channels of distribution, provide us with additional vehicles to expand our direct-to-consumer business through owned retail stores and online sales and offer the potential for continued growth internationally,” said Mackey McDonald, chief executive of VF…

With acquisition of Seven, VF Corp is one step closer to total brand domination. Their portfolio already includes Blue Chip brands Wrangler, Lee Jeans, Vans, JanSport and North Face. Perhaps it’s only a matter of time before we see Sevens on racks in Target under their ownership.

But did Seven cash out of the jeans game at the right time? Take, for example, as a current indicator of the stupefying absurdities towards which the high-end jeans racket has drifted, that apparently none other than Damien Hirst has recently decided to design high-end Levi’s for their ‘Warhol Factory X line (who knew?) of Levi’s for 2008. Are mass-produced Hirst/Warhol co-branded Levi’s the culmination of the genre; the ironic death blow? Laughing right in consumers’ faces while taking ever more of their money for the same exact product?

Good riddances all around then, perhaps.

Hangovers suck. They can ruin your entire day. There are a million coping methods, most of them involving something passive, like lying on the couch watching 90’s movies on USA for a few hours. Another method is to eat a Mexican breakfast. This is something I’ve never tried because food is the last thing on my mind when I’m hungover. I asked a friend of mine who swears by the Mexican breakfast remedy and he said, “I don’t know how it works, it just does. I don’t question God’s ways.”

It’s Saturday morning and I wake up drunk from the night before. The hangover hasn’t even kicked in yet. I call my buddy Pablo, who is also hungover, and tell him we’re going to Los Tacos in Pasadena. Los Tacos is one of my favorite restaurants in LA; it’s cheap, they have great food, and the portions are big enough for lunch and dinner.
»continue reading A Mexican Breakfast: The Hangover Remedy

»continue reading The Cribs @ Troubadour, 7/24/07

Los Angeles denizens have been blessed with Full Album Gravy™ of late. Last week saw Redd Kross performing Born Innocent, an opening act for Sonic Youth performing Daydream Nation at the Greek. A few days ago came the news that Lucinda Williams will hold court at the El Rey for five nights, playing one album in its entirety each night.

Today, though it’s not breaking news, Ben Kweller (via the Echo) greeted my inbox with the announcement that he will host a three-night stand in September, playing (you guessed it) one album per night:

I may be alone on this one. But as I sit here smugly drinking coffee in the Sandalwood Conference room at the Marina Del Rey Courtyard Marriott, the deluge of full-album-format concerts this summer gives me pause and forces me to think which artists I would prefer not to hear the full album(s) of, in their entirety, in a live setting. I can think of several. Dozens. Hundreds. Maybe thousands! Feel free to add yours to the comment section.

Finally, don’t get your hopes up, but we are currently in discussion with people in Frank Stallone’s camp.

I’m just saying.

The Canadian Coffee Break brings together some of the finest Canadian minds in Southern California every week for a topical, lively round-tablesque discussion over very dark coffee. Won’t you join us.

Last week the DEA sent nasty notes to the landlords of local medical marijuana dispensary tenants, informing them they are breaking federal law (LA Times):

(The) U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has warned more than 150 Los Angeles landlords that they risk arrest and the loss of their properties if they continue renting to cannabis dispensaries.

The story was discussed with a new twist last Friday on KCRW’s Which Way LA by host Warren Olney:

Yesterday Orange County’s all-Republican board of supervisors became California’s 33rd county to begin licensing the use of medical marijuana. On that same day, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration arrested dispensary operators elsewhere in Southern California. Tonight, we’ll hear from the feds, from an Orange County supervisor, and from a former operator of a marijuana clinic.

Finally, Entourage fans were treated to an extended medical marijuana dispensary spoof on HBO the verysame week in what was apparently a timely coincidence.

How do the California Canadians feel about this turn of events? Keep reading…
»continue reading Canadian Coffee Break: The Medical Marijuana States’ Rights Plight

Just checking: Did we know this went on sale Monday?

Did the Internet/Fan Club presale allotment already sell out?

(Password: 9SRXDE)

Anyone get tickets?

Are AmEx tix still available?

(Do they value AmEx holders over their own fan club?)

Will The Cure ever retire?

Robert Smith with Fender Jazzmaster photo credit: Philippe Carly

Ryan Adams is an artist people either hate or love. I like to think that most people that hate him are either stunted by some pre-conceived notion of his lyrics and ability, or are just not versed in his catalog and history.

This year’s tour, supporting the new album Easy Tiger, has started out as an acoustic tour consisting of, as Ryan likens them, “blue cave” shows. As I type this I’m listening to the first “red cave” show, which would be an electric night. Reason being: Ryan has been healing his wrist from a skateboarding mishap.

The colored cave model should show you the versatility of Ryan and his “bestest friends in the whole world,”The Cardinals. That was a direct quote from the “blue cave” show at the Wilshire Theatre a few nights ago. Adams likes to play with his audience — not so much tell stories, but interact in a way that tells you that you are involved, but not part of, his show. The Cardinals, consisting of Neal “The NC” Cassal on Guitar & Vocals, Jon “The Slider” Graboff on Pedel Steel & Vocals, Chris “Spacewolf” Feinstein on Bass & Vocals, Brad Pemberton on Drums, and Jamie “The Candyman” Candiloro on Piano, are THE backup that Ryan has needed for so long. Some have been with him for years now, others just recent additions. All have the ability to not only look through, but also push Ryan through his ever changing visions of how his music can, and should be played. I think “dialed in” would be the analogy that one would use to describe their contribution throughout the evening.
»continue reading Ryan Adams Does Not Suck At Wilshire Theatre

News comes today that city planners are seeking zoning changes to allow for 250 square-foot units to be built in and around Downtown.

Opponents are very vocal:

“I see it as creating a neighborhood where parking is horrendous and families are squeezing themselves into these units which are very small because they are affordable,” affordable housing developer Noreen McClendon said.

While a representative from a development firm that stands to gain financially from the passage of the zoning change, makes some good points:

“This is a landmark event. The people who care about downtown L.A. have been waiting for these ordinances for a long time,” said Dan Rosenfeld, a principal in the downtown development firm Urban Partners.

It was not clear how or why the number of 250 was arrived upon, nor were exact details on these square-foot units are not yet known. My personal speculation is these may be for those new slim, standing hyperbaric chambers or in fact spacious living quarters for a new breed of genetically engineered micro-beings. Either way, the rejuvenation of Downtown Los Angeles wins.

That’s messed up.