It’s a great couple of days in indie-electro land: tonight, Faded Paper Figures bring their post-Postal Service pop to Spaceland, and tomorrow, the Echoplex gets its best bill since the mind-blowing Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti/Magic Kids/Puro Instinct triple: Nite Jewel, Memoryhouse, Baths and a Kisses DJ set. Also in great stuff this week: U.K. folk wunderkind Laura Marling plays the El Rey and Pepper Rabbit plays a triumphant Spaceland show. More dates on our ongoing Los Angeles calendar.

Faded Paper Figures – “Invent It All Again”: mp3
Memoryhouse – “Sleep Patterns”: mp3

Photo by David Greenwald

It’s not quite time for sweater weather yet, but psych-folk trio Pepper Rabbit is nevertheless touring America. It might get a li’l heated under all that wool, especially depending how long you gaze on indie rock babe/drummer Luc Laurent. (There’s a related Tumblr post to link to about this but I couldn’t find it. Use your imaginations. Update: It’s here!) So, uh, wear cut-offs? Dates — and the band’s incredible cover of fellow Rawkblog favorite ARMS’ “Heat and Hot Water” — after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Crazy, great lineup for the September 4 one-day festival, though I’ve already seen every band I like on it. Most of them this year! Worth paying the measly $25 for the Mountain Goats alone, though. See the whole thing after the jump. (Ariel Pink photo by David Greenwald) Read the rest of this entry »

As the above poster indicates, Westwood’s Hammer Museum and our friends at KCRW and Buzz Bands have put together some free summer shows. There will likely be a lot of UCLA Design | Media Arts students and empty Yogurtland containers, but also, jams. The particularly great bill of the Happy Hollows and Grandaddy/Earlimart supergroup Admiral Radley plays tonight, with more dates all month. And on Friday, the beyond-dreamy bill of Magic Kids, Puro Instinct and Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti play the Echoplex. I’ll be there with my pillow.

The Happy Hollows – “Death to Vivek Kemp”: mp3
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – “Round and Round”: mp3

More tour dates after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Summer Darling celebrates its self-title debut’s album release party at Spaceland this Monday. It will be a time. Save some fireworks from Sunday and get excited to hear one of the year’s best albums. The band plays free on Mondays all month, in case you’re making this one an extra-long weekend.

Summer Darling – “This Would Be The Time”: mp3
Summer Darling – “My Reminder”: mp3

Previously:
Premiere: Summer Darling – “Hungry Bees”
Rawkblog Presents: Summer Darling Album Release Party

Tonight, Rawkblog contributor Phil Merkow — as his alter-ego, PHILM — will bring his mind-bending beat-matching skills to bear at West Hollywood’s best beer bar, the Surly Goat along with DJ Dravidian. (Full disclosure: I go there a lot.) Be there or be the guy not listening to the immaculately curated DJ set and drinking sweet foreign brews.

Los Angeles chamber-folk favorites Pepper Rabbit play what’s sure to be an inspired show at Spaceland tonight with the U.K.’s Peggy Sue, who will make you think less of Mercury Rev and more of Neko Case and Laura Marling. [Pepper Rabbit photo by David Greenwald]

Pepper Rabbit – “Red Wine”: mp3

More: LA Tour Dates | Pepper Rabbit

Good stuff this weekend: tonight, Rawkblog heroes Division Day will play a free gig at Origami Vinyl, where my RAWKSHOTS photos are still on sale; Saturday, Victoria Williams, The Chapin Sisters, Leslie Stevens of Leslie and the Badgers, Whispertown (Morgan Meyn), Red Cortez, The Tyde, Big Search (Matt Popieluch from Fool’s Gold and Foreign Born), comedienne extraordinaire Charlyne Yi and more are paying tribute to the Beach Boys for When You Awake‘s Backyard Benefit at Historic Monument 157 for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund.

More shows on the LA Tour Dates calendar, which you can add to your iCal/Google Calendar/etc.

(Division Day; photo by David Greenwald)