HEADS UP

The Prodigy @ The Grove of Anaheim Tues 5/26
The Prodigy @ The Palladium Wed 5/27

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Now coming up on their 20th year, The Prodigy return for what appear to me to be their first headling non-festival shows in the LA area in about 15 years. (American Legion Hall, 1995? Were you there?) There was a distinct moment in 1997 when for better or worse, either deservedly so or in the usual press hyped tradition, The Prodigy were the international heir apparents to the rock throne, who, along with The Chemical Brothers were ushing in the new era of electronic beat music merging with your dad’s rock n’ roll. There is really no denying the hybridization of dance with rock has come to roost here in 2009 from that nascent moment. Add to this The Prodigy’s ongoing hilarious flame war in the press with Chumbawumba and they have solidfied their place in rock’s pantheon.

Check back later this week for Sung’s coverage of their Palladium show.

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New, possibly NSFW, video for “Warriors Dance” from the Invaders Must Die LP

9:00pm
There’s no way to watch Anya Marina perform and not develop a devastating crush. She’s adorable and she rocks.

9:05pm
Saddened that I arrived so late I only caught two songs of Anya’s set, rendering exposure to crush material tragically brief.

9:23pm
Here’s Lissy Trullie visually, at 60 feet: Take Clare Danes and Kirsten Dunst at 19 and give her a guitar.

9:24pm
Vocally, take Chrissie Hynde, Karen O, and either Tegan or Sara. That could be completely wrong, but I’ve had two beers & no food.

9:38pm
Lissy’s version of “Ready for the Floor” is better than Hot Chip’s original. And it’s not particularly close.

9:42pm
On the topic of beer, Stellas at the El Rey are $9, an outrage worth picketing over. Meet me in front of the theater after the show

10:22pm
The house lights are dimmed, Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A” blaring, building cognitively dissonant anticipation for a Brooklyn band.

»continue reading 13 Tweets About One Rock Show Thing: The Virgins with Anya Marina and Lissy Trullie @ The El Rey, 5/21/09

PHOTO: Morrissey by Sung.

Feel free to leave your birthday wishes for Morrissey in the comments below.
 

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SOME PREVIOUS MOZANJEALOUS

Coachella 2009 Festival Photo Gallery: Morrissey, April 21st 2009
Morrissey @ Palladium, 10/13/07, October 15th 2007
Morrissey @ Palladium, 10/12/07, (Rare non-Derby-related piece by DF!)
Moz Angeles No More, August 11th 2005

12.56pm. May 17, 2009. Somewhere along the 105W. Fact: DF loves him some derby. This will surprise no one. And yet that love has always been staunchly monogamous: DF has almost exclusively followed derby of the banked-track variety, and in particular derby practiced by his beloved LA Derby Dolls. And yet to paraphrase the Bard, “There is more derby in heaven and earth, DF, than is dreamt of in your philosophy.” Today, DF goes through the derby looking glass to explore the world beyond LADD of 2-D tracks and WFTDA teams from ‘round the Golden State.

1.17pm. Toyota Sports Center. El Segundo, CA. And so DF arrives at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, an hour or so past noon on Sunday. Toward the venue stream two groups. There are derby folks resplendent in tat and black, eager to see the final rounds of epic derby tourney The Big One. There are also helicopter parents toting athletic gear and over-reared children to the ice hockey venue adjacent. The derby folks seem largely unaware of the helicopter parents; the helicopter parents seem acutely aware (and scared) of the derby folks. The cultural contrast is stark and tremendously amusing.

1.32pm. “The Big One?” you ask. No, it’s not a forthcoming earthquake or hackneyed penis joke. Allow DF to expound: LA’s flat-track counterparts to the banked-track Derby Dolls are the flat-track Angel City Derby Girls (AC/DG), and they are the hostesses of a tournament that has drawn together talent from across the state to determine the flat track women’s roller derby champion of California for 2009. Pretty goddamned momentous, eh? This is actually the second of two days of derby, the first of which consisted of a veritable Bataan Death March of games starting at noon and ending late in the eve, ultimately setting up a pair of semifinal matches to frame the late-tourney action this fine Sunday afternoon.

»continue reading Break on Through to the Other Side: “The Big One” Derby Tourney @ Toyota Sports Center, 5/16/2009

» USGS Quake info

In the mood for a huge, hearty, warm, melty, fake-meaty Vegan sandwich for under $10? Look no further than Chango Coffee House in Echo Park. The hipster coffee shop/art gallery is located at Echo Park Avenue and Delta Street, a spot that locals have dubbed “Chicken Corner,” and has recently added two unbelievably tasty vegan sandwiches to its menu. I had the chance to try both over the weekend, steak & cheese as well as chicken pesto, and each one brought a kind of sandwich satisfaction that isn’t available anywhere else in town.

Vegan steak and cheese sandwich. $7.50

The vegan steak and cheese sandwich is basically a vegan version of your typical “Philly cheesesteak,” with thick soy steak strips and dairy-free mozzarella, along with sauteed onions and mushrooms. Chango toasted the sandwich when I ordered it, so the bread was warm and crispy and the soy cheese was perfectly melty. For the steak Chango uses gardein, and for the cheese they use Teese from Chicago Soydairy…each being the best replacement out there for its animal-product counterpart. I can tell you, this steak and cheese sandwich was so amazing, even a meat-eater would fall in love with it. Not since Doomie’s or The Vegan Spot (both are closed down now) have I had such a great vegan sandwich.

»continue reading Under $10: Chango’s New Vegan Sandwiches

Full photo gallery below.

»continue reading Airborne Toxic Event, KJEE Summer Round Up, Santa Barbara Bowl, May 17, 2009

PICK OF THE WEEK & TICKET GIVEAWAY
 
Gogol Bordello
Opening night restored Pomona venue
Thurs 5/21
Fox Theater, Pomona
Info
[ENTER TO WIN TICKETS]
 

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THIS WEEK’S TICKET GIVEAWAYS
 
M83
Wed 5/20
Glass House, Pomona
[ENTER]

The Walkmen
Wed 5/20
El Rey Theatre
[ENTER]

Ben Folds
Wed 5/20
Hollywood Palladium
[ENTER]

Kim Fowley’s Lipstick Orgy
Wed 5/20
Knitting Factory
[ENTER]

The Kills
Thurs 5/21
Glass House, Pomona
[ENTER]

The Virgins
El Rey Theatre
Thurs 5/21
[ENTER]

The New York Dolls
Thurs 5/21
Henry Fonda Theater
[ENTER]

Laurnea
Fri 5/22
The Mint
[ENTER]

Fischerspooner
Sat 5/23
Avalon Hollywood
[ENTER]
 

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HEADS UP

Deer Tick w/ Dawes @ Spaceland Sat 7/4
Andrew Bird with w/ Ra Ra Riot & Heartless Bastards @ Greek Theatre Fri 7/10
Cake @ Henry Fonda Wed 8/26
Cake @ Fox Theater, Pomona Thu 8/27
N.A.S.A. @ El Rey Wed 8/12
Band of Horses @ Fox Theater, Pomona Sat 8/29
We Are Scientists @ Detroit Bar Sun 5/31
The Felice Brothers @ Troubadour Sat 6/13
Telepathe @ Detroit Bar Tue 6/16
Deleted Scenes @ Silverlake Lounge Wed 6/17
Popup @ pehrspace Sat 6/20
Dinosaur Jr. @ Detroit Bar Sat 6/20
Chairlift @ Detroit Bar Sun 6/21
Tori Amos @ Greek Theatre Fri 7/17
Counting Crows w/ Michael Franti and Spearhead, & Augustana @ Greek Theatre Tue 7/21
Ed Harcourt @ Bordello Mon 6/29
Aerosmith & ZZ Top @ Staples Center Fri 8/21
Artie Lange @ Gibson Amphitheatre Sat 9/19
David Serby @ The Echo (Grand Ole Echo free Sundays) Sun 5/31
Deastro @ Spaceland Thu 6/25
Ice Cube, Nas & Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, The Roots, Big Boi, Busta Rhymes & more @ San Manuel Amphitheater, San Bernadino (2009 Rock The Bells Festival ) Sat 8/8
Tom Jones @ Greek Theatre Tue 8/25
Kylie Minogue @ Hollywood Bowl (First ever Los Angeles show) Sun 10/4
 

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MONDAY
Golden Animals @ Silverlake Lounge
Other Lives @ Amoeba

TUESDAY
Hesta Prynn @ Silverlake Lounge
Milk and Honey @ Bar Lubitsch
The Decemberists @ The Palladium

»continue reading Losanjealous Concert Picks: 18 – 24

Full photo gallery below.

»continue reading Far & Iration, KJEE Summer Round Up, Santa Barbara Bowl, May 17, 2009

Full photo gallery below.

»continue reading Mogwai, May 16, 2009, Orpheum Theater

Full photo gallery below.

»continue reading Ponytail, May 15, 2009, The Echo

Please tell me you felt that one. Lucky me! It struck just as I was perched atop a rolling chair, tearing down blue painting tape from the ceiling trim in the Sandalwood conference room, juggling pilsner all the while. Fun times in the Marina del Rey Courtyard Marriott. Apparently the epicenter was in Lenawthorgundowood. Still waiting for the breakdown from Kate Hutton; meantime, how’d that one treat you? Aftershock reached 3.1.

UPDATE: Magnitude downgraded to 4.7.

» USGS Quake info

There really aren’t enough opportunities to go out in your bathrobe and get hammered on White Russians.

Enter Lebowskifest 2009. A two-day celebration of “The Big Lebowski” — a movie about the ultimate slacker hero and his bowling buddies on a mission to recover a stolen rug and the Lebowski namesake’s trophy wife. (For a more fitting summary of the movie, watch “The Big Lebowski – The F*cking Short Version” on youtube, here.)

»continue reading Lebowski Fest, Wiltern, May 7, 2009

HEADS REMINDED
Extra Golden, Fool’s Gold @ The Echo Wed 5/13

Turn out this Dub Club evening to experience Extra Golden’s third album, Thank You Very Quickly (Thrill Jockey, 10 Mar 2009), in live format. Fool’s Gold opens.

» Catch a track by Extra Golden over @ LJ Blip.

 

PHOTO: Pronto at Martyrs, Chicago, March 28, 2009 – Photo by Zoran Orlic

HEADS UP
Pronto + Nels Cline @ The Mint Sat 5/16

This one’s been on the calendar for a while; we are all big fans of Nels and anything Wilco-tangential. First two emails right here win tix to this great show Saturday at the Mint. Need your first and last name. Good luck! UPDATE: We have our winners. Tickets still available at present right here. Good luck!

When not playing in his full-time gig with Wilco, New Jersey native-via-Chicagoan-via-Brooklynite Mikael Jorgensen crafts pitch-perfect pop songs under the moniker of Pronto.
Pronto now consists of Mikael Jorgensen (Wilco), Greg O’Keeffe, Erik Paparazzi (Cat Power), and Tunde Oyewole (Childballads). When their respective musical duties don’t take them elsewhere, Pronto plans to play in support of All Is Golden throughout 2009, its Contraphonic debut. All Is Golden is a 70’s-inspired tome that serves as a record of action. It is the sound of waking up and moving on, cross-country trips to California, black days and blue nights giving way to better times and warmer promises.

NELS CLINE is a genre-transcending guitar hero who has worked with an impossibly wide range of artists, including Bill Frisell, Sonic Youth’s anti-rock icons Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo, and country-punk-poets the Geraldine Fibbers. Cline’s solo work is equally varied-from the lovely acoustic adventures of 2000’s The Inkling to his daring interpretation of John Coltrane’s Interstellar Space to his consistently provocative instrumental soundscaping with the Nels Cline Singers. In addition to his gig with Wilco, Kotche has played with Loose Fur (featuring Jeff Tweedy and Jim O’Rourke), and On Fillmore, an experimental jazz duo with bassist Darin Gray.
Awards include:California Music Award for “Outstanding Jazz Artist” & LA Weekly Music Awards for “Best New Genre/Uncategorizable Artist.”

» http://prontosphere.com
» http://www.myspace.com/nelscline

May 9, 2009. 4.56pm. Losanjealous, CA. You’re all well aware, dear readers, that our faire city was shaken to its very shaky foundations this past week by the revelation that a beloved local figure has been implicated in the growing scourge of performance-enhancing drugs that has sullied so many of our most admired professionals. Wait, what’s that? You think I’m referring to Manny Ramirez? Hell no, fools, I said a beloved local figure. DF was talking about DF (which is, to be fair, usually the case) and LaVerne Casagrande’s repeated attempts to test him for compliance with Losanjealous’ policy preventing writers from taking performance-enhancing drugs.

5.15pm. So what that means, loyal readers, is no derby tonight. With LaVerne’s thugs out and about trying to catch me for a random drug test, DF’s best move is to lay low at home. Take in some old eps of Everyone Loves Raymond. Work on deepening my own personal ass-groove in the couch. Maybe call the Larger Ladies’ LoveLine a bit later on. Yep. Evening itinerary set. Go and watch derby by yourselves. Go on, now.

6.48pm. Speeding unabashedly southbound on the 101. Who the hell was I kidding? Le derby is worth the risks of getting nailed by the narcs, not least because tonight bears the frisson of novelty, as LADD’s elite squad, the Ri-ettes, will be taking on the cleverly monikered KC/DC, a hybrid team composed of all-stars from Kansas City’s Roller Warriors, and Albuquerque’s Duke City Derby (the “DC” is for “Duke City”; I have no idea where the “KC” part comes from).

»continue reading Skirts, Skates, Scars, Steroids: LADD Ri-ettes v. KC/DC @ the Doll Factory, 5/9/09

We started Drive & Find a few years back because, frankly, we were damn intimidated by the vast Los Angeles culinary scene. It’s a simple concept: two Westside dudes are hungry… they pick an area of town… they take a drive … they find an alluring restaurant … they dine there. This concept has brought us all around LA – from seafood to Thai to total crap – nonetheless our affinity for the unknown remains.

DATE: Sunday, May 2, 2009

RESTAURANT: Cantalini’s Salerno Beach Restaurant
193 Culver Blvd; Playa del Rey, 90293
310.821.0018
www.salernobeach.com

Their slogan: “The Best in Traditional Italian Cuisine.”

Our Slogan: “The Best in Traditional Italian Cuisine … on that part of Culver Blvd.”

Drive Time: 20 minutes

LIKES: Saltwater smell outside. The house band straight out of an early ‘90s Steve Martin romantic comedy. Cozy date spot. The hand-painted walls. Leather booths outside for table waiting. Cute, oddly dressed hostess. A lot of cork popping all around. Locals in beach attire.

DISLIKES: Thirty minute wait at 7:45 p.m. on a Sunday. The enflamed MAC Tools Autoracing parka worn by a dude at an adjacent table. At times feeling like we were in coastal South Carolina. The bread. Their middle school class project website (www.salernobeach.com ).

»continue reading Drive & Find: Ep 1: Cantalini’s Salerno Beach

»continue reading The Vaselines, May 10, 2009, El Rey Theater

Anybody who reads this site with any sort of regularity no doubt knows my passion for pointless surveys and user-generated polls (more examples here, if you must). As such, it thrills me to no end to now direct you to our colleagues over at NBC Los Angeles who, in a new (presumably and hopefully recurring) feature titled “The Golden Local”, ask their readers which of the following rock venues deserves the title Best Local Venue: Spaceland? Or Doug Weston’s Troubadour? You have but 14 hours left to cast your vote at press time; get over there and be heard right now, and don’t forget to list the reason why you’re voting for who you’re voting for. One of our recent favorites:

SMOKE SAYS
The Troub will sell me smokes, but Spaceland will let me Smoke my Smokes inside; as a Smoker, I appreciate being surrounded by Smoke and increasing to the overall Smokiness of the Smoked Air.

» Best Live Music Venue Poll (NBC Los Angeles)