I hadn’t paid enough attention to the latest release by L.A.’s The Happy Hollows, but then fellow local photog Benjamin Hoste sent over his official video for the trio’s new single and my eyes turned into Tiger Woods mistress golf balls. It’s a simple but brilliant clip — the band animated (and rocking) in silhouette, splattered with paint and pen. As for the tune? Since seeing them in April 2008, it seems the act has matured into our fair city’s answer to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, all razor guitars and powerhouse vocals from Sarah Negahdari. One might go so far as to say “Death To Vivek Kemp” — in the parlance of our time — is killing it.
To call Jim O’Rourke’s The Visitor much anticipated would be akin to wondering if people are still looking forward to the second coming of Christ. O’Rourke fans are less multitudinous, and arguably less devoted, but nevertheless, after almost a decade of nothing but scattered vocal tracks on Loose Fur records since 2001′s Insignificance, we’ve been dyin’ over here.
Let’s be clear — these are not the Pipettes. The lineup that recorded the still-amazing We Are The Pipettes — Gwenno, Rosay, RiotBecki — shifted in 2008 to Gwenno, her sister and another girl, who subsequently left the group, too. So I have no idea who’s singing in this track except Gwenno, who sounds great, of course, but the richer-than-Ben & Jerry’s harmonies just aren’t the same here. Crossing my fingers that the sophomore album finds the new lineup gelling. In the meantime, if you want sci-fi themed rad indie-pop songs, look up Anthony Rochester’s Music For In The Spaceship, a new discovery I’ll be reviewing in these pages soon enough.
Kind of a lot going on in this one, but: yes, that’s Lambchop frontman/animal Kurt Wagner on the arresting vocals, sounding as at home amid the Mavis project’s post-Stereolab space-jazz as he does on his own well-worn recordings. Ed Harcourt, Candi Staton and a mess of other guest vocalists will join him on Mavis, a sort of homage to Mavis Staples produced by Ashley Beedle & Darren Morris and probably suffering from Wagner not singing on every damn song. It’s due March 2 on !K7.
As one would hope, local post-Clap Your Hands Say Yeah country-punks LA Font’s embryonic recordings gain grit and sweat when brought to the stage — and apparently enough of a beat to make one audience member do variations of The Robot for 45 minutes. Join the party after the jump. (Dropping the pretty gallery software for now — more hassle than it’s worth. Unless you dig it! Leave your vote in the comments.) Read the rest of this entry »
A list of the problems and missed opportunities of Nine would head quickly into double-digits, so I’ll be brief. The film finds its protagonist, irredeemable misanthrope and beloved director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis, excellent as always), at a crossroads: with his recent films flopping and middle age taking its toll, the passionate Italian turns to the women in his life to break through an onset of writer’s block. The narrative, of course, is little more than window dressing for the core of the film: Broadway-style production number after production number, each a glorified spotlight for an A-list actress (and, um, Fergie). Read the rest of this entry »
We take it easy on the DJ updates here at The Rawking Refuses To Stop!, but tonight’s event is a can’t-miss — an open bar (first come, first served) at one of my favorite local haunts, Bar Lubitsch, with Luke Top of Fool’s Gold on the ones and twos. Also tonight: Arts & Crafts newcomers Still Life Still at the Troubadour, which I’ll be at myself. Choices!
To call Jim O’Rourke’s The Visitor much anticipated would be akin to wondering if people are still looking forward to the second coming of Christ. O’Rourke fans are less multitudinous, and arguably less devoted, but nevertheless, after almost a decade of nothing but scattered vocal tracks on Loose Fur records since 2001′s Insignificance, we’ve been dyin’ over here.
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