PICK OF THE WEEK

Meat Puppets
Sewn Together record release show
w/ Retribution Gospel Choir
Tues, May 12
The Mint
Info
 

Mogwai
w/ Dead Meadow
Sat, May 16th
Orpheum Theater
Info
[ENTER TO WIN]
 
Doves
w/ Wild Light
Sat, May 16
The Wiltern
Info
[ENTER TO WIN]
 

Brightblack Morning Light w/ Rio En Medio @ Eagle Rock Cultural Center Fri 5/29
Amanda Palmer @ Troubadour Thu 6/25
Cursive @ Glass House Mon 6/29
Peter Murphy @ The Canyon, Agoura Hills Thu 6/11
Love Is All @ Echoplex Fri 6/12
Chairlift @ The Echo Thu 6/18
An Horse @ The Echo Sat 6/27
Bill Callahan @ Troubadour (formerly Smog) Wed 7/1
Emilie Simon @ The Levitt Pavilion, Pasadena Fri 7/3
Bert Jansch @ Largo Wed 7/8
Dirty Projectors @ Troubadour Wed 7/8
Old 97’s w/ Rhett Miller and Murry Hammond solo @ Henry Fonda Thu 7/9
Tortoise @ Troubadour Sat 7/11
Journey @ San Manuel Casino Amphitheater Sat 8/1
Jarvis Cocker @ The Wiltern Mon 7/27
Heaven and Hell: Dio, Ionni, Butler, Appice w/ Coheed and Cambria @ Greek Theatre Tue 8/11
Heroes of Woodstock: Jefferson Starship, Canned Heat and More @ Greek Theatre Sun 8/23
Fever Ray @ Henry Fonda (Karin Dreijer Andersson of The Knife) Wed 10/7
The Jesus Lizard @ Henry Fonda Thu 10/15
 

TUESDAY
Meat Puppets @ The Mint
Operation Aloha @ Troubadour
The Faraway Places @ The Echo (Record release show–free)

»continue reading Losanjealous Concert Picks: May 11 – 17

Grand Duchy = Violet Clark + Black Francis.

»continue reading Grand Duchy, Detroit Bar, May 8, 2009

A hot summer sun cooks the breeze as it blows over rolling hills into the valley. Power lines and the proud poles that place them follow the leisure country road on both sides leading to and from Olive Headquarters. It sounds so official! If those lipstick red soft drink logos mounted to this county produce stand don’t attract passing motorists the multi color pennants will. They caught the eye of a brown bag-toting mother of two. Her blouse matches the pennants perfectly. How polite of her to color coordinate! The blazing blue sky is reflected behind her in the chrome-plated bumper of a creamy dreamy, top down 1961 Buick Electra 225 convertible with four sunburned, wind whipped passengers. A hand painted sign states peppers and cucumbers are on sale for a measly one-cent each. Olives are much more valuable. They are .00 per gallon.

Speaking of olives, YOU ARE INVITED to the historic Graber Olive House in my hometown of Ontario, California Saturday, May 9, 2009 from 1 to 3pm. I’m celebrating the 10 year anniversary of my first book, Cruising the Pomona Valley, 1930 -1970. Free tours of the curing and canning facilities will be given; iced tea and cookies (and olive samples) will be served.

»continue reading Charles Phoenix’s Slide of the Week: Olive Headquarters, Santa Clara Valley, CA, 1962

WHAT NOW?

The Golden State Cafe is situated on Fairfax a few doors up from Turntable Lab, Damiano “Mr Pizza” and the dried-up husk of Largo (RIP old Largo, you were much more fun and intimate than the Coronet). The cafe features craft brews, decent food and gelato offerings from Mr. Tai “Scoops” Kim himself at $2/scoop, all served within a space afforded a very keen “warehousey” design eye. They pride themselves on showcasing, in their own words, “the best makers of food and drink in California.” In a move that is patently inconsistent with this philosophy, they also pride themselves on the most expensive beer in their restaurant, the infamous “aged in Jim Beam barrels” Allagash Curieux from Portland, Maine, priced at $9 for one 10-oz glass. To their credit, though, they also have some great California brews on tap.

»continue reading Under $20: Golden State Cafe

The Big 4.0! Which in Internet Years is, like, a lot more years. For some perspective, this is our 2,673 post. (Admittedly, some duds in there–most of them mine.) Or, think of it this way–Losanjealous’s lifespan roughly coincides with Antonio Villaraigosa’s tenure as our fine city’s mayor. And of course, we are also forever linked to him by the little matter of our own torrid affair with a Telemundo journalista.

Looking back on the baby steps of that first month of May ‘05, I’m not sure what really can be gleaned about beyond maybe a fairly consistent affinity for Michael Jackson news (then / now), The Flaming Lips (then / now), Bloc Party (then / now) and Trader Joe’s (then / now).

But rather than stroll down Memory Lane and pat ourselves on the back, rehash our tireless service, recall the innumerable laughs, insights and rock show tips shared here, or even mention the over 1,200 pairs of tickets given away, or, for that matter, gloat on how we’ve outlasted both the American Girl store or, sadly, the print edition of The Onion, we’d rather just say thanks. Thanks. Thanks for continuing to check out the site and contributing your own opinions, complaints and tips. Like, J.C. just now, right here. Thanks, J.C.

Feel free to share your memories of how Losanjealous has impacted your lives for the better or worse below.

As previously alluded, I made the sojourn to Crescent City yet again last weekend. Neil’s set was the standout highlight in a weekend full of highlights. For two hours the rain waited patiently overhead for Neil to play his set, finish, come out for an encore, and leave. Said encore – “A Day In The Life” – culminated with Neil agitating the Les, tearing his guitar strings off, dragging it around the stage for good measure and generally causing sonic trouble all ’round. He then walked over to the vibraphone, took the mallets from Pegi, ended the song with a perfectly-executed E major third and split. Immediately following, the menacing sky broke open and the crowd was pummeled and soaked within a matter of seconds. Somehow my Blackberry survived. Set list replete with helpful acoustic/electric notation courtesy Bad News Beat:

2009-05-03
Fair Grounds Race Course, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
Neil Young & His Electric Band

1. Love And Only Love (electric guitar)
2. Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black) (electric guitar)
3. Are You Ready For The Country? (piano)
4. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (electric guitar)
5. Pocahontas (electric guitar)
»continue reading 40th Annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, 3 May 2009: Neil Young’s Set List

PICK OF THE WEEK AND TICKET GIVEAWAY

The Vaselines
1st Los Angeles show ever
w/ The Tyde
Sun May 10
Info
[ENTER TO WIN TICKETS]
 

Aziz Ansari
Improv Hollywood
Two Nights
Fri May 8
Sat May 9
 
 

Shiny Toy Guns
w/ Nico Vega
Sat May 9
Info | [ENTER TO WIN]
*Grand prize winner gets VIP lounge passes (must be 21+), CD & autographed poster.
 

TUESDAY
Greycoats w/ James Beauregard @ Knitting Factory
Mike Doughty @ Hotel Cafe

»continue reading Losanjealous Concert Picks: May 4 – 10

Full photo gallery below.

»continue reading Starsailor, Troubadour, May 1, 2009

Thomas Wolfe said (maybe I’m paraphrasing) that you can’t bring candy and gum into the Troubadour again. That’s because they sell it inside. My emphasis is on sweet, sweet Haim. They’re as good as Mean Mister Mustard, and I can’t fawn enough. These girls have a precocious talent for rock. Guitars hang off their shoulders as if to say, “We’re not anyone’s opening act.” Maybe they won’t be for long.

Following the bold and unapologetic opener “Figure It Out”, Haim plays selections from their myspace page and a few from the Haim conservatory. “The Wire” is the pièce de résistance, a tough pop song fed by precision dynamics and driven entirely by Danielle’s upstrokes and guitar accents. I may as well talk about gourmet food. We’ll wait for them to finish up their record with former Blondie/The Knack producer Mike Chapman later this year.

Mama Haim actually won “The Gong Show” back in the day, so maybe this is where they get their stage banter. EXAMPLE OF BANTER: Alana says to Este, “You got it.” Este points a finger gun at Alana and says, “You got it, Toyota”. Alana doesn’t get Twitter. “MySpacian” is a modifier.

Danielle sports a striped French sailor shirt and little denim shorts over full-length black stockings. Bass-playing Este wears the white cotton dress, thin black nylon tights and combat boots in the family. However, youngest sibling Alana, Alex Fischel and drummer Stephen dress too conservatively. I don’t give a damn. To Melrose with you!

DONNA HAIM (“MAMA HAIM”, Mama and founding member of ROCKING HAIM, their family band.)

So when did you realize the girls wanted to go on their own?

»continue reading Haim at the Troubadour