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Periodic Periodical by Drew Tewksbury
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Soviet Posters, 67 Ellens, Hot Rods and Pedal Cars, Industrial Lou Reed, Female Computers of WWII
Jan 27th, 2012 @ 10:38 am
Friday, January 27
MUSIC: Petrovic Blasting Company at the Echo
Sorta gypsy jazz meets Russian vodka hall brew music. What’s a vodka hall? Shhh. Don’t ask.
More info: “In 1989, in the encroaching mountains of Serbia or Tennessee, an idea occurred between two brothers; or rather, a quixotic dream: to build a bridge from Turkey to Europe. This bridge would be lined with tapestries and populated by a thousand great white birds. Soaring over the Mediterranean sea, as it were, commuters would be flanked by low growing patches of colorful flora. The bridge would be a swath of color and light, a paintbrush stroke between continents, between cultures, between civilizations. On each independence day of each independent country, elaborate displays of fireworks would erupt from the bridge and the Christmas lights would crawl across the bridge like festive veins of ivy on the eves of all the world’s favorite holidays.
The brothers were pleased by their idea, and so they set off to play music in the streets, that they may raise the funds (approximately $85 billion would do) by the generosity (monetarily speaking) of the persons whose lives they one day hope to improve.
Pomona is known for having killer car shows, but this huge show takes the cake. Also, for car geeks this year is lovingly known as the “Deuce year.” Sounds gross, but it’s not. I swear. It’s the 80th anniversary of ’32 Ford
More Info: “In all eight Fairplex exhibit buildings and the surrounding grounds, the Grand National Roadster Show roars into town with the finest roadsters in the country, vying for the coveted America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award. This show is huge: more than 500 roadsters, customs, hot rods and motorcycles competing for top awards. Hundreds more roll in for the 7th annual Drive-In for additional prizes on Saturday and Sunday. The 63rd Annual Grand National Roadster Show will feature, the 1932 Ford in the 80th Anniversary of “The Deuce”.”
THEATER: Martin McDonagh’s “The Lonesome West”
From the twisted mind who brought us the riotous blood fest The Lieutenant of Inishmore and the hilariously dark In Bruges, the Ruskin Group Theater presents Martin McDonagh’s play about violence and family in Ireland.
More Info: Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm through March 4, 2012 LosAngeles, CA – A four time Tony Award nominee and two-time Academy Award winning playwright, Martin McDonagh will have his work, The Lonesome West, presented in Los Angeles for a limited run at the critically acclaimed Ruskin Group Theatre beginning January 27, 2012.
ART/SMARTS: Initial Points: Anchors of America’s Grid
*The Center for Land Use Interpretation is located behind an unmarked door next to the Museum of Jurassic Technology. If the Museum of Jurassic Technology is a mysterious, steam-punk wondercabinet, then the CLUI is the hi-tech, human geography-obsessed conjoined twin.
More Info: This new exhibit looks at the historic surveying infrastructure of the USA, and how literal monuments of place have evolved into expressive cornerstones of space. An exhibition by the Center for Land Use Interpretation in association with the Institute of Marking and Measuring with contributions by the National Museum of Surveying and the Principal Meridian Project.
ART/SMARTS/MUSIC: LONG BEACH TRIPLE FEATURE: LOU REED: Metal Machine Trio: The Creation of the Universe / Lou Reed and Producer Bob Ezrin In Conversation at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center AND STATIC NOISE: The Photographs of Rhona Bitner
So much awesome coming from the fine people of CSULB. First is a 3-D sound installation recreating a 1975 industrial performance by Lou Reed, then there’s Rhona Bitner’s photos from iconic music venues, and finally a discussion by Lou Reed with producer Bob Ezrin. Ask Lou what was up with that LULU thing with Metallica.
More info: STATIC NOISE: The Photographs of Rhona Bitner, opening January 27, 2012 at University Art Museum, California State University Long Beach, presents West Coast photography and music lovers their first opportunity to view up close the art of New York-based Rhona Bitner. The exhibition features twenty-eight photographs from Bitner’s ongoing LISTEN series, a body of work devoted to the exploration of significant sites in American music history in their present condition—from Electric Lady Studios and CBGB in New York to the Sound Factory and Whisky à Go-Go in Los Angeles.
Metal: In 1975 RCA Records originally released Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music as a double album. It was seen as a radical departure from previous Reed recordings of the time as it had no songs or even recognizably structured compositions. Drawing more from minimalist American composer La Monte Young’s avant-garde compositions and drone music than from conventional rock and roll, Metal Machine Music is now seen, in retrospect, as a groundbreaking foray into industrial music and sound art. Metal Machine Trio, a 2009 live performance with John Zorn at the Blender Theatre in New York, using special microphone techniques by the sound engineers acousticians at Arup.
The University Art Museum, CSULB will present the world premiere audio installation of Metal Machine Trio as an ambisonic 3-D re-creation. In collaboration with the Arup team in New York, Reed has been able to recreate, for museum visitors, this groundbreaking composition from exactly the same acoustic perspective he had while performing it onstage.
THEATER/SPECTACLE: Michael Jackson Immortal/Cirque du Soliel at Staples Center
The gloved one may be gone, but Michael Jackson’s music and moves live on through Cirque du Soleil’s production of “the Immortal World Tour.” The whimsical dance troupe takes on Jackson’s comeback tour that was tragically cut short, providing an outsized extravaganza worthy of the King of Pop.
ART/SMARTS: Sci Arc / Materials & Applications: LA Freewaves and Julie Lazar:
Kaleidoscope of Pacific Standard Time
Ok, so no John Cage songs will be played, but this still sounds great. Expect some outlandish antics and some experimental sonic tomfoolery.
More info: To honor California-native John Cage’s centenary and his liberating spirit, RE:COMPOSITION is a thematic program that considers how current compositional practices are enabling artists in a variety of disciplines to reconstitute aspects of their art creation. Though no John Cage compositions will be performed during RE:COMPOSITION, the program embraces the pioneering role which Cage played in the expansion and liberation of visual art and musical compositional practices both internationally and in California during the 20th Century.
Saturday, January 28
ART(ish): The 2nd Annual Ellen Art Show @ The Terrell Moore Gallery
Who wouldn’t want to see 67 portraits of Ellen? Yeah, me neither. But, it’s for a good cause, and I’m sure there will be some hilarious/awesome/awful poses from the star of Mr. Wrong.
More Info: This event is a charity fundraiser for The Trevor Project, www.TheTrevorProject.org, and a party for Ellen Degeneres, in honor of her 54th birthday. There will be 54+ portraits of Ellen Degeneres on …display at the event, painted by artists from LA, NYC, & Miami, as well as Las Vegas, Philadelphia, South Carolina, and Ohio. All portraits will be sold to benefit The Trevor Project.
ARTS/SMARTS: Deconstructing Perestroika/ Craft and Folk Art Museum
Two of LA’s best kept secrets, the Craft and Folk Art Museum, and the Wende Cold War museum are teaming up like a Voltron of radicalness. Russian art under Communism is totally fascinating because 1.) all art had to be made for the state and 2.) it somehow resembled American art at the same time. Yeah, yeah, there’s huge differences with the subject matter, and Russian art never could go as batshit crazy as American art, but it’s really interesting to see how a medium dictates what a piece of art can look like. The screen print is one great example, and this show highlights the confines and liberating aspects of the medium. Oh and Russia. Lots of images of Russia or something.
More info: In collaboration with The Wende Museum and Archive of the Cold War, CAFAM will present Deconstructing Perestroika, the first major exhibition in the United States of hand-painted Soviet-era political posters that were inspired by a new government policy of transparency in the former Soviet Union. Organized to mark the 20th anniversary of the former Soviet Union’s demise in December 1991, this exhibition highlights some of the key political and cultural shifts that defined the era and ultimately led to the fall of the former superpower, namely Mikhail Gorbachev’s transformative policies of Glasnost and Perestroika in the late-1980s and early-1990s. These posters illustrates the tradition of hand-painted poster design, known in Russian as avtorskii plakat, which is an outgrowth of traditional Soviet agitprop. The exhibition is curated by Dr. Ljiljana Grubisic, Director of Collections and Public Programs at The Wende Museum.
Sunday, January 29
FAMILY: Sustainable Sundays: Soil, Dirt and Land at the NHM
Get the dirt on dirt! (see what I did here, har har). Here’s some family stuff for people with pipsqueaks, and for those who just want to know how to turn those thumbs green.
More info: Sunday, January 29, 2012; 9:30 am - 3:30 pm
Grand Foyer, Level 1
Get a closer look at the precious resource right beneath our feet and learn about the science of soil with our experts! Get your gardening and composting questions answered, try your hand at pottery, and meet some critters that call dirt their home!
Workshop 1 pm - 3 pm: The Science of Soil with Master Gardener Vanessa Vobis
Calling all naturalists and gardeners! Embark on a journey beginning 4.6 billion year ago during Earth’s formation to learn about the history of soil. What are soil’s origins, how is it regenerated, who (or what) needs it and why should you care? In present times, our understanding of soil has changed: politically and socially, what is soil? And what does soil mean to the people that grow our food?
FILM: Top Secret Rosies: The Female Computers of World War II / Downtown Indie
The untold story of female mathematicians in World War II? Probably the most awesome documentary subject ever! Mathletes! No really, this rules. There’s even a discussion afterward where you can discuss how much this rules.
More Info: In early December 1941, Betty Jean Jennings was a freshman completing her first semester at a rural Missouri college. In Philadelphia, Doris and Shirley Blumberg were seniors at Girl’s High and Marlyn Wescoff was completing a minor in business machines at Temple University. In an era of limited career opportunities for women, these bright students anticipated low paying careers as schoolteachers or bookkeepers. But on Sunday, December 7, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and changed these young women’s lives forever. With Pearl Harbor suddenly drawing the US in to WWII, the Army launched a frantic national search for women mathematicians.
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Judy Chicago Blows Up a Football Field, Luis Buñuel Film Fest, Plane Crash As Art, Wu Tang Clan Ain’t Nothin’ to Funk Wit
Jan 20th, 2012 @ 10:37 am
Friday January 20
Tribute band battle: Abbey Road vs The DyManic Duo
It’s the question of the ages. The Beatles vs. the Stones. But at Brixton South Bay’s cover bandstravaganza, you can have it all. Cover bands Abbey Road (the Beatles) and DyManic Duo (the Stones) play a back to back set, making everyone happy.
Luis Buñuel Retrospective at the Aero
Surrealist Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel may be most well known for his works with Salvador Dali, but his long career showcased a style that was confrontational and beautiful at the same time. His infamous Un Chien Andalou is an eye opping experience, literally.
More info: In 1929, Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel - then only as old as the century - gave the world an electrifying jolt. His short film “Un Chien Andalou,” a Surrealist collaboration with artist Salvador Dalí, simultaneously hypnotized with mirthful dream logic and accosted the eye with sudden-impact images (the most famous of which, fittingly, is a severely accosted eye). Buñuel’s career in film would span the next half-century, jumping between countries of production as circumstance dictated. After making “Un Chien Andalou” and its feature-length playmate in Europe, he fled the Spanish Civil War and sought refuge first briefly in Hollywood and then in Mexico, where his “Mexican period” in filmmaking began. There he produced alternately searing and satirical razor-sharp gems of class commentary such as THE YOUNG AND THE DAMNED (LOS OLVIDADOS), THE CRIMINAL LIFE OF ARCHIBALDO DE LA CRUZ and THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL.
Saturday January 21
Twenty years after the Staten Island rap crew began, Wu-Tang is back to rappin’ with original members RZA, GZA, Raekwon, Method Man, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God and Masta Killa. Hopefully Old Dirty Bastard will be looking down from heaven Bone Thugs and Harmony-style and ghost rappin some wit.
A Butterfly for Pomona – Judy Chicago
Judy Chicago made history with her iconic art piece, the Dinner Party, but she was also known for turning fireworks into artwork. In this piece sponsored by the Pomona College Museum of Art, Chicago blows up a football field in a pyrotechnic display.
Derby Doll battle: LA Ri-ettes vs. San Diego Wildfires
Skate and destroy! The original roller derby revival girls return to the Doll House for some high-speed antics. Watch Judy Gloom, Tara Armov, and Tawdry Tempest compete in the place where Alex “Axles of Evil” Cohen once rolled.
Art Lande and Albert “Tootie” Heath at CalArts
Slip into some old school jazz with some new school players as faculty from CalArts play with some jazz icons.
More Info: A rare collaboration and appearance in LA by two jazz legends! Both musicians are cultural treasures, having worked with many of the greatest artists in jazz history. First set: A four movement piece by four different pianists. Performers include faculty and alumni of CalArts: Art Lande, David Roitstein, Cathlene Pineda, and Rory Cowal.
Second set: A dedication to Eddie Marshall, a dear friend of Art Lande and Tootie Heath. Lande and Heath will play some free improv, some standards, and some of Marshall’s music.
Accidents in Abstract Painting – Richard Jackson
Richard Jackson has been a long-standing art fixture in Pasadena and his new work is totally bizarre and great. It’s an equation: Plane + Wall = Art.
More Info: Pasadena-based artist Richard Jackson will mount Accidents in Abstract Painting, his previously unfulfilled dream performance in which he crashes a remote-controlled, large-scale model airplane filled with paint into a wall that reads “Accidents in Abstract Painting.” For Jackson, this act makes an ironic comment on Action Painting and the concept of chance so prominent in abstract painting.
Anne Carson at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever
Act like a hipster, a real one, from the 20’s and get all like, poetry-y at Anne Carson’s reading from her new book, Nox. Snaps!
More Info: Anne Carson is a Canadian poet, essayist, translator, and professor of Classics. She has published sixteen books, the latest of which is NOX (New Directions, 2010), a book of poetry. Antigonick (New Directions, 2011), a comic book of Sophocles’ Antigone with art by Bianca Stone, is forthcoming.
Sunday January 22
Georges Méliès Shorts Program at the Aero Theater
If you saw Martin Scorcesse’s ode to the silent era Hugo, then you’re familiar with Georges Méliès the French filmmaker whose imagination brought audiences to other worlds. This screening series will show some of his rarest films with live musical accompaniment.
Magnificent Marine Invertebrates: Family Tide Pooling at Abalone Cove
The Natural History museum presents a day of hanging with all creatures slimy and spiny, during this offsite visit to Abalone cover, where science guys help families understand the worlds hidden in tidepools.
More info: “Join Dr. Gordon Hendler, Curator of Echinoderms (sea stars and relatives) and museum colleagues at Abalone Cove, one of the most beautiful rocky reefs in Southern California, for an up close and personal tide pooling experience. Discover mollusks, anemones, sea stars, crabs, marine worms, and their intertidal neighbors. Participants will learn about tide pool ecology, marine biology and what it is that makes tide pool creatures the most exotic and fascinating to Angelenos.”
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Sage Vaughn, Scandi Films, Gypsy Jazz, French Synth, and the Adventure Show!
Jan 13th, 2012 @ 11:43 am
Bored as hell? Here’s some LA fun stuff comin up this weekend!
Friday, January 13
*Awesome LA street-turned-fine artist Sage Vaughn has his first solo exhibit of the year at Known Gallery. He’s made his reputation painting gangsta birds. It’s way cooler than it sounds, trust me.
More info: Known Gallery is excited to start off this year with “Last Year”, a show of new works by Sage Vaughn and a very special guest. This will be Sage’s first solo exhibition at Known Gallery, featuring new large-scale woven editions based on paintings and collages from his ongoing ENVELOPE SERIES. Contrasting the nonchalant qualities of collage making and the painstaking exactness of woven tapestry, this work becomes part of an experiment in making art that can exist both off and outside the gallery walls.
*Helen Hunt, star of the blockbuster film Twister, performs Our Town at the Broad Stage
More info: Oscar, Emmy, and Golden Globe-winner Helen Hunt stars in this groundbreaking new version of Wilder’s iconic American play. Our Town tells the story of young lovers George and Emily, whose life in a small New England town becomes a microcosm of every day life. The wisdom of the play, rendered through a deceptively simple story, makes Our Town an enduring treasure of the American theater.
*LA Phil’s Mahler Project kicks off with “9 SYMPHONIES, 3 WEEKS, 2 ORCHESTRAS, 1 CONDUCTOR.” Gustavo Dudamel directs the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Mahler’s death. It’s kinda a big deal.
*80’s obsessed French synth outfit M83 plays club Nokia with rave-rockers Big Black Delta.
More info: http://goldenvoice.com/shows/details/?id=33822
*Django-fied gypsy jazzers Noah and the Megafauna perform at the Downtown Indie, and debut their new music video. Free!
*The Divide will be the Nuart’s midnight movie and actor Michael Biehn will be there in person! Ask him how he felt about being totally cut out of Terminator 2.
More info: In this unrated graphic and violent post-apocalyptic thriller, nine strangers—all tenants of a New York high rise apartment—escape a nuclear attack by hiding out in the building’s bunker-like basement.
*The B-52’ play the Grove of Anaheim R-r-r-r-rooooock Lob-sta!
Speaking of which:
*The Aquarium of the Pacific stays open late for Shark Lagoon Night where visitors can get up in the grills of some toothy predators. Free!
More info: The public is invited to get up close with the ocean’s ultimate predators at the Aquarium of the Pacific for free during Shark Lagoon Nights. Guests will have the opportunity to touch more than 150 sharks and see large sharks like the sand tiger shark at the Shark Lagoon exhibit on select Friday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Shark Lagoon brings guests closer to these predators than they ever imagined was possible. Guests can touch and learn about sharks, shop, purchase drinks and snacks, and enjoy live music during select Shark Lagoon Nights.
Saturday, January 14
*Staycations are so last year. Turn your travel dreams into reality at the Travel and Adventure Show at the Long Beach Convention Center, which features vacation deals, excursion giveaways and presentations by TV travel gurus. Make your 2012 all about escapes, not excuses.
More info: Now in its seventh year - the Los Angeles Travel & Adventure Show is your ticket to discover authentic travel experiences, snap up the deals, win trips and giveaways, and be entertained and delighted at this amazing travel extravaganza. You’ll hear travel tips from the experts including travel legends Andrew Zimmern, Samantha Brown, Pauline Frommer, Patricia Schultz and more. Experience ziplining, dive in the scuba pool, and see cultural performances.
* For all those people bonkers for bonsai, the LA Arboretum presents the Baiko-En Bonsai Kenkyukai Show and Sale. Get your shrub on!
More info: The Baiko-En Bonsai Kenkyukai Society will present the only show of deciduous miniaturized trees in the US. This show features Japanese graybark elms, ginkgo, zelkova and maple trees in their dormant stage. Demonstrations each day will show how to prune the branches and roots of ordinary nursery plants, transforming them into classic bonsai planted in the traditional shallow pots. Bonsai trees, both finished and partially trained by club members, will be offered for sale.
*Golden Globe Foreign-language nominee series closes with a FREE panel discussion at the Egyptian Theater from the directors of the Golden Globe nominees including Pedro Almodovar, Jean-Pierre And Luc Dardenne, Asghar Farhadi, Angelina Jolie, and Zhang Yimou. Yeah, that’s Angelina. Will Brad show up????? ZOMG!!!
*The 13th annual Scandinavian film festival LA takes over the Writers Guild Theater. Expand your Scandiphilla beyond girls with dragon tattoos.
More info: Full lineup of films
*Indie-Americana band Wheeler Brothers leave Texas behind for the Mint theater, where they will get yer boots a-stompin!
More info: Formed in Austin, TX, the Wheeler Brothers are made up of brothers Nolan (guitar/piano/vocals), Tyler (bass) and Patrick Wheeler (drums) along with Danny Matthews (guitar/vocals), and A.J. Molyneaux (lap steel/guitar/vocals). They have quickly emerged as one of Austin’s most exciting up-and-coming bands whose style is described as “ball-of-fire Americana” by the Austin Chronicle. They will be making their way across the West Coast through the beginning of the New Year hitting SXSW, Colorado, California & Texas along the way. Wheeler Brothers are touring in support of their debut release, Portraits (Bismeaux Records), which dropped last summer and features sing along, guitar driven jams with clear, crisp vocals and plenty of down-home Southern twang.
*The Craft And Folk Art Museum presents Paper Theater, a family event to make collage stories from old magazines. Can they use my stack of unread New Yorkers? I’ve got a tower of them.
More info: Join artist and puppeteer Leslie K. Gray to explore Kamishibai, an ancient type of Japanese storytelling using picture cards. You’ll create a fascinating world of lively characters created with magazine cuttings and cardboard. Finally, perform your special stories with the group.
Sunday, January 15
Yangzhou Puppet Theater at the Chinese Cultural Arts Celebration at the Huntington Gardens. Who doesn’t love a puppet? No really. Who? I want names.
More info: Explore the music, theater, and folk crafts of China in a day-long event that celebrates the beginning of the lunar new year season, ushering in the Year of the Dragon. The event is a prelude to The Huntington’s Chinese New Year Festival, which will be held on Feb. 4–5. Artists and performers from Jiangsu Province, China, will present traditional puppet opera and demonstrate crafts such as inner-painted glass, paper cutting, and sugar sculpture. Dragon dancers and musicians will add to the spirit of celebration
*Behind Mythbusters presents those two weird guys from the show who will, presumably, bust the shit out of a myth or two, in front of a live audience at the Nokia Theater. Hope they don’t try that cannonball trick again…
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Beer and Loathing at the Rolling Stone Restaurant at the Hollywood & Highland Center
Jan 9th, 2012 @ 10:15 am
For LA Weekly Arts, I wrote a short piece about the Rolling Stone Restaurant in the Hollywood and Highland Center. That’s right, just around the corner from a Hard Rock Cafe and those guys who dress like Transformers on the street. While this is a restaurant review, I really look at how the branding of Rolling Stone has changed in a media climate where magazines no longer have the cultural capital that they once had. This restaurant represents magazines’ new job as curators, but does it work? Are the bacon-brussel sprouts really good? Read it here: Rolling Stone Restaurant: Beer and Loathing at the Hollywood & Highland Center.
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Rose Pruning, Mariachi Punks, Black Dahlia Tours, Behind Charles Bronson’s Mustache
Jan 6th, 2012 @ 11:23 am
Who says there’s nothing to do in LA. Here’s some Tewksbury-approved business going down for the next 72 hours:
January 6th
*The FIRST First Friday at the Natural History Museum, featuring Mariachi El Bronx, and a lecture by super skeptic (no really he works at Skeptic Magazine) Michael Shermer. Bronx are punks-turned-Mariachis, and are local heroes. They’re not ironic either, they’re killer musicians in love with oom-pahs and frenzied strums.
More info: “Synthesizing 30 years of research, Michael Shermer upends traditional thinking about how humans form beliefs about the world. Simply put, beliefs come first, and explanations for beliefs follow. Shermer provides countless real-world examples of how this process operates, from politics, economics, and religion to conspiracy theories, the supernatural, and the paranormal. And ultimately, he demonstrates why science is the best tool ever devised to determine whether or not our beliefs match reality.”
*The mostly hilarious Groundlings perform a pretty great improv and sketch comedy night called Science Fair. Of course, Groundlings is where many SNL people get their starts. I’m sure you already know this, but it’s bodacious. Saturday too.
*Quetzal at Fais Do Do. They’re this institution of an LA band playing their record release show, at the historic Fais Do Do club, which used to be a jazz house along the formerly busy strip of jazz haunts in the West Adams district. Most of those houses are churches now, but Fais Do Do is a creole style classic.
More info: “Quetzal, an east LA chicano group that has been performing in LA for 2 decades, will perform their first show of 2012 at Café Fais Do Do on January 6 in Mid City, previewing material from their first record for Smithsonian Folkways out Feb 28, ‘Imaginaries.’ Quetzal was formed by guitarist/singer Quetzal Flores, a vehicle for social commentary, art and activism that rose from the ashes of the 1992 uprisings in LA. Quetzal is joined by his wife and music partner Martha Gonzales and together they mash traditional son jarocho music from Veracruz with rock, R&B and salsa for a fiery, cathartic experience.”
*Noises Off The kitchy classic opens in Pasadena for a short run at A Noise Within theater. Old people and aspiring nudists love it.
More info: “Michael Frayn’s joyfully out-of-control British farce features an under-rehearsed and over-worked bumbling troupe of veteran thespians, with a penchant for drama more personal than professional, readying themselves for the world premiere of a new play whose auspicious title is Nothing On. In the process they bring the house down, quite literally.”
*Action hero and mustache innovator Charles Bronson was married apparently. His wife Harriet discusses and signs Charlie & Me at Book Soup
More info: “Hollywood memoir by the first wife of actor Charles Bronson which details their high profile marriage and divorce, and her life as the “ex” Mrs. Famous who reinvents herself as a talk radio host. Many never-before-seen family photos.”
LA Lakers VS Golden State Warriors at the Staples Center.
Sports, Sports, Sports!
January 7th
*The historic Egyptian theater will be screening “the lost episodes of the Honeymooners,” whose Ralph Kramden always imagined sending his wife Alice to the moon, years before lunar landings were even possible.
More info: “One of television’s most influential and beloved programs, “The Honeymooners” starring Jackie Gleason first appeared on the DuMont network’s “Cavalcade of Stars” and then on “The Jackie Gleason Show.” For decades, the early “Honeymooners” live telecasts were lost. Now, in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the very first episodes, the American Cinematheque screens a selection of the rare gems from the MPI Home Video/Jackie Gleason Enterprises “Lost Episodes” box set. Join us at the Egyptian for a night of hilarious antics from hapless Brooklyn bus driver Ralph Kramden (Gleason), his long-suffering but loving wife Alice (Audrey Meadows), Ralph’s neighbor and pal, sewer worker Ed Norton (Art Carney) and Norton’s wife Trixie (Joyce Randolph) in episodes that have been hidden away for decades!”
*The Room plays at Landmark’s Regent Theater. Sorry if you already know this, but the room is this longstanding cult film produced by this nutjob Tommy Wiseau. He owns this (in)famous billboard with his face on it. He’s the Angelyne of the movie world, only uglier. He will be there in person if you want to find out what’s wrong with him.
More info:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjxYLchvnRA
*Rose pruning seminar? Yes, this exists. I assume that when you get old that the rose pruning seminar is where you go to find hot dates. Or maybe for youngsters looking for sugardaddies/mommas? Who knows. It sounds like a euphemism, but I’m sure rose pruning is actually really innocent.
More info: “Join the curator of the Arboretum’s Victorian Rose Garden, for a workshop about rose pruning and rose care. January is a big month for roses; proper pruning and soil building will determine the health and beauty of roses throughout the year. Jill will demonstrate all the techniques for pruning a variety of different types of roses, lead a discussion on disease control and soil building, and teach you how to nurture perfect roses!”
*Esotouric leads a Black Dalhia tour on the anniversary of her death. These are fun little tours put on by old school LA journos. Getting sawed in half costs extra, I assume, and it would be half as painful as that Black Dahlia movie starring Josh Hartnett.
More Info: “65 years ago this week, a young woman named Elizabeth Short vanished from downtown Los Angeles. We give this tour several times each year, and the early January tour is always special. We hope that you can join us for this 65th Anniversary Edition. The tour is approximately 4 hours, and will we return in time for riders to take high tea—should they choose—in the Rendezvous Court (the Olive Street Lobby where Beth Short spent some the last known hours of her life)”
*Cinefamily presents Wallace Berman’s Underground (Toni Basil, Tosh Berman, Russ Tamblyn & George Herms in person). It’s a festival of his fascinating short films, with their roots in psychedelic LA.
More Info: “In the mid-1960s, underground wunderkind and collage art luminary Wallace Berman became the true nerve center of a brilliant kind of social assemblage, inspiring and communing with a close-knit circle of actors and artists who screened their underground films domestically among a group of Topanga Canyon bohemians. These films (made by folks with their ears to the ground of the L.A. scene like Bruce Conner, Dean Stockwell and Russ Tamblyn) were influenced by Berman’s spiritualist and radically amateur concepts of art, in which sculpting out of woodscraps later gave way to pioneering photocopy works and the now-legendary mail art publication Semina. Tonight’s program features the world premiere of Bruce Conner’s edit of Dean Stockwell’s film Pas De Trois, and visits with Berman’s friends and collaborators to explore the fascinating intersection among art, Hollywood, and the institutions of the semi-commercial underground!”
January 8th
*Oshogatsu Family Festival at the Japanese American National museum. While I don’t know what Oshogatsu means, I do know that there will be a hell of a lot of origami happening. It’s free all day, and a dragon or two should be showing up. It IS the year of the dragon, after all. Also there will be a CRAZY Onigiri contest where you can make CRAZY rice sphereoids!
* Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins at the Geffen Playhouse. Kathleen Turner plays the firebrand journo in this continuing performance at the Geffen, which opens this week. Kathleen Turner Overdrive will not open the show.
More info: “Two-time Tony and Oscar nominee Kathleen Turner sizzles as Molly Ivins, the brassy Texan reporter whose liberal journalism skyrocketed her to the national stage. From writing Elvis Presley’s New York Times obituary to becoming the most widely-read self-proclaimed “pain in the ass to whatever powers come to be,” Ivins, often described as a modern-day Mark Twain, made rabid fans and enemies alike with her sharp-tongued humor and unabashed political criticism. This acclaimed show captures the redheaded reporter’s indomitable character by weaving personal anecdotes with her colorful take on national politics.”
*Hammer Conversations: Amiri Baraka & Kellie Jones
I really think Amiri Baraka is one of the best names I’ve ever heard. I’d go to this just because of that. Also I don’t think it’s a compliment to be called the “Poet Laureate of New Jersey.”
More info: “Now Dig This! curator Kellie Jones and her father—renowned poet, playwright, and activist Amiri Baraka—discuss their collaboration on Jones’s book EyeMinded: Living and Writing Contemporary Art, which investigates various perspectives on art making throughout different generations. Baraka is the author of more than 40 books of essays, poems, drama, and music history and criticism. The former Poet Laureate of New Jersey, he has received numerous honors including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment of the Arts, the PEN/Faulkner Award, and an Obie Award for his play Dutchman (1963). A book signing will follow the conversation.”
All Weekend:
Free Shows at the Satellite all weekend as part of a 15 show series:
Friday, January 6 - Montë Mar, Light FM, The Alternates, Younglight (feat. Michael Feerick of Amusement Parks On Fire and Micah Calabrese of Giant Drag)
Saturday, January 7 - The Black Apples, Whispering Pines, Last in Class, Brainstorm
Sunday, January 8 - Big Moves, Tennis System
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Nov 18th, 2011 @ 6:08 am
New Music Tuesday: Adanowsky, Can’s ‘Tago Mago,’ and David Lynch
Tweet ThisNov 17th, 2011 @ 12:38 am
I’ve been pretty busy lately, so here are a few of my latest articles for LA Times, and my last few pieces from KPCC’s Madeleine Brand show. Thanks for reading/listening:
Tinariwen: Spreading the Saharan blues wherever it roams
A Tuareg blues rock collective born in Kadafi’s military camps 30 years ago chronicles life in the desert and the plight of those displaced by war. (read more)
Adanowsky and the Art of Bedroom Folk
“When I am not in love with someone, I am lost,” Adan Jodorowsky said as he lounged back in his chair, his black shirt open slightly as he looked to the sky, his eyes covered by dark sunglasses. The French singer is on a journey, but his destination is unknown. He’s looking for a sense of home, for love, and an audience to share the heart-gripping, swooning folk ballads of his dreamy band Adanowsky. The lonesome troubadour, the searching artist, the boyish troublemaker; Adan Jodorowsky is them all. (read more)
Review: Kiran Ahluwalia at the Mint
At Indo-Canadian vocalist Kiran Ahluwalia’s Monday performance at the Mint, she stoked up fiery wanderlust with sounds of Portugal, North Africa and India, enveloping the audience in the currents of her cross-cultural style. (read more)
NOVEMBER KPCC MUSIC REVIEWS
Adanowsky, Can’s ‘Tago Mago’ 40th Anniversary Reissue, David Lynch’s Debut Album
Gregory Isaac’s Anthology, Justice
Tweet ThisThurs, July 28th: Echo Park Jazz 826LA Benefit Show w/ Slumgum & Brian Walsh Trio
Jul 20th, 2011 @ 3:04 pm
Echo Park Jazz invites you to a very special benefit show for 826 LA in beautiful downtown Echo Park on Thursday, July 28th.
Join us at Lot 1 Cafe for a unique collaboration by visionary, genre-smashing quartet Slumgum and the rhythmically vibrant Brian Walsh Trio, helmed by incendiary clarinetist, Brian Walsh. The two avant-awesome acts will perform their own sets, then join together for a final set of live improvisation and collaborative sonic mayhem.
Enjoy some mind-altering jazz and some great cocktails for a rockin’ Thursday night.
Tickets are $5 at the door and all proceeds go to 826 LA.
21+
Doors at 9:00, show starts at 9:30. See you there!
May 17th, 2011 @ 9:52 am
Back on KPCC's Madeleine Brand show at 9:50am talkin new music by Danger Mouse and Helado Negro. Listen at 8.93fm
I’ll post the audio a little later today!
Tweet ThisLA Times Reviews Austin Peralta Trio at Lot 1!
Apr 12th, 2011 @ 11:03 am
My first night of Echo Park Jazz was a success! Read all about Austin Peralta’s fantastic perfomance in this piece by LA Times scribe, Chris Barton:
It was easy to feel a measure of anticipation going into Thursday night’s show with jazz phenom Austin Peralta in Echo Park. An intriguing recent addition to the groove-centric local label Brainfeeder, Peralta’s latest album “Endless Planets” marked a bold progression for both Peralta’s musical development and the imprint run by celebrated electronic fusionist Flying Lotus (a.k.a. Steven Ellison). Ellison’s 2010 album “Cosmogramma” forged a beguiling stew of hip-hop and futuristic jazz that pointed to the influence of his great-aunt Alice Coltrane, but bringing Peralta into the fold signifies an intriguing and perhaps inevitable intersection of L.A.’s exploding beat culture and restless, forward-thinking jazz.
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Echo Park Jazz: Brainfeeder’s Austin Peralta ft. Thundercat, Triorganico’s Fabiano do Nascimento + AK & Her Kalashnikovs
Mar 28th, 2011 @ 11:42 am
This Thursday, I’m putting on my first Jazz night here in Echo Park at Lot 1 Cafe.
For this intimate show, I pulled together some of my favorites of L.A.’s young jazz scene including virtuoso pianist Austin Peralta (and son of original Z-boy and documentarian Stacy Peralta), who brings firebrand bassist, and Flying Lotus collaborator Thundercat. This is a rare small venue show offering a ringside seat for Peralta’s stellar style.
Following Peralta’s early performance is Brazilian 7 string guitarist Fabiano do Nascimento from the avant bossa nova outfit Triorganico.
And closing out the night is the Gypsy, Italian, French, Romanian, Spanish, Hungarian, Brazilian, Russian sounds of AK and Her Kalashnikovs.
This is an 21+ show and doors open at 8:00pm. $7.
The schedule:
-Austin Peralta featuring bassist Thundercat and drummer Nick Harmon (8:30pm)
-Brazilian 7 String Guitarist Fabiano do Nascimento (Triorganico) (10pm)
-AK & Her Kalashnikovs (11:00pm)
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Mar 1st, 2011 @ 2:53 pm
Im on @TMBShow at 950 am reviewing Devotchka, Earth, & Radiohead Listen @kpcc 893 fm or http://www.scpr.org/listen_live/ #music @twatterlord
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Feb 18th, 2011 @ 3:58 pm
Local natives on @kcrw right now LIVE w/ a string section! WATCH: http://ow.ly/3ZfSi #KCRW
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Conor Oberst Interview at Hollywood Reporter + Bonus Q&A
Feb 15th, 2011 @ 6:14 pm
I recently chatted with Conor Oberst about the following topics: the death of the album, Messiah complexes, Rastafarianism, Ethiopian Emperors, Time travel, Vinyl resurgence, and President Obama. Oh yeah and we talked about Bright Eyes new album too.
We talked on the phone for like 45 minutes about a wide range of topics. As you can imagine, he’s really well spoken. Here are a couple bits that didn’t make it into the interview. This is for the SUPER Oberst fans. We chat about the recording process, about his thoughts on how bands can actually make money in a world where no one buys records, how the album got its name, the distruction of regional sounds of rock music in America, science fiction books, and Jean Baudrillard. Hope you enjoy. This is a raw dose of Oberst.
DT – Did you write most of the album in Omaha?
CO – Yeah it was all recorded there.
DT – I’m interested in that, how does the place where you record influence your music?
CO – I think it influenced it, I mean obviously whatever city you’re in adds to your level of distraction outside the studio, and then just the environment and the studio itself plays a part. We have a nice set up there because it’s a real hi fi studio, but its basically connected to Mike Mogis, who’s in the band, ‘s house. It’s kind of the best of both worlds. It’s sort of like recording at home but all the equipment is very professional quality. I like recording in different places, I think every studio has its own vibe that seeps into the tracks, I also like recording outside of studios, too, just at houses and more makeshift setups can add to the atmosphere of the record.
DT – When did you start the writing process for this record?
CO – I’d say everything was written in the last year or so, year and a half. So yeah, we started recording last year about this time and finished around Thanksgiving, so like 9 months, but there were a lot of breaks in that time. So we’d do a session, do a few songs and then take a break, maybe come back a month later and do another batch of songs, so in those in-between times I was writing more and we revised the things we’ve already started and it went on like that.
DT – Is it pretty collaborative or are you doing most of the writing?
CO – Well I write the songs, the basic chord structure and vocal melody and the lyrics, but then as a band Mike and Nate and I arrange the songs and decide the best way to approach them and decorate them. So yeah what you’re hearing on the record is definitely a combined effort of all of our ideas.
DT – There are a lot of different themes on this album, the theme of religion and Politics especially with Halle Selassie. Could you talk about this a bit?
CO – To me it’s like, a lot of what can be found, what meaning can be found in music is sort of up to the interpretation of the listener, and I don’t know, I guess I know what the songs mean to me, but I prefer for everyone to have their own interpretation. There is an influence, or the idea of humanism or something like that, that we’re all in the same boat. The title comes from, and people have different opinions of what it is, I’ve always heard it was “The Key of C” because on piano, if you play in the key of C you can hit any of the white keys and you know you won’t be playing out of key. Basically it’s like the easiest key to play in for amateurs, on guitar its E for the same reason, so basically it’s the idea that anyone can play along.
DT – That’s so funny, I didn’t think of that at all. I always thought it as the key being something that unlocks, like larger truth or whatever.
CO – Sure, sure, I guess there is kind of a double entendre there.
DT – I’ve been thinking about your lyric, “looking back at your tortured youth”…Is that something that you feel now. like you’re getting some perspective of how you were earlier in your career.
C0 – Yeah, that’s obviously kind of a self-analysis, that lyric. I think it’s been a long strange trip.
DT – There’s this theme of time travel, can you talk about why you included that or what books or movies influenced you to include that?
CO – I guess it’s interesting to me, the whole idea of science fiction and how it can oftentimes, it’s a precursor to what happens in reality, and that’s fascinating. One that comes to mind is the works of Margaret Atwood, I think she’s fantastic, like “Oryx & Crake” and “After the Flood” are these two novels that, they’re not exactly sequels but theyre the same characters, I read those books in the last few years and that was one influence to the record. I also like Arthur C. Clarke, “Childhood Band” is one of his books, it’s a very famous science fiction book. Also Vonnegut is one of my favorites, yeah I would say those are a few of the kind of … I think it’s a great genre in the same way that I really like magical realism because I think a lot of times when an author is given free reign to bend the reality in the context of the world that the characters exist in themselves, a lot of times you end up with even more emotional truth than you would if you were doing straight realism. I really like that when inanimate objects talk and things like that. I guess I try and incorporate those elements into my songwriting because I think you can get more emotional truth and maybe get to the heart of the matter quicker than if you’re confined to, A is A and B is B.
DT – Pop music is really popular right now. It’s like the 1980s with these huge tours. Are live shows the only way to make money now?
CO – It’s a really interesting time, I think a big question mark is going to be what happens with these new telecommunications and Internet laws that they’ve been passing. And the FCC as they try to reign in the internet, On one hand it’s unfortunate because the same media conglomerates that control television and mainstream media will now start controlling the internet and you’ll no longer be able to search whatever you want, People will be paying for priority so their sites come up first and it’ll be legal for them to block sites and all this stuff which is a bad thing for society, but for people who make music and artists who deserve to get paid for music, that might be the way they start getting paid again. I think it’s possible because as its more controlled and regulated, it’s in their interest, its in the interest of all the major entertainment companies to find out a way to get paid and mostly they’re looking at it for themselves, but the trickle down effect is that maybe some artists that are making records and making movies will start to get paid again, so its sort of the death of the wild west internet and here come the sheriffs. Like I said it’s a double-edged sword. But I think those are the things that are in motion now and that’s what they’re going to try to do.
DT – On one hand that’s the only way artists can start making money again, but then it takes out the democratic ideal of it….
C0 – I think you said it, like I said it’s a double-edged sword. Probably the negatives outweigh the positives, but speaking from a purely selfish standpoint as someone who makes a living selling records one upside is that people start getting paid again. The internet itself I have very mixed feelings about, I guess I am the last generation that will remember the world before the internet and honestly I think if I had a choice I would go back to that.
DT – Really> Why?
C0 – I think it’s taken so much of the mystery out of the world, and the privacy and the idea that things can exist in one place and not other places.
DT – Things being distinct.
C0 – Yeah exactly, it used to be that you hear a band and they must be from Chicago or they must be from the West coast. There’s was a certain geography to things and now all that’s kind of out the window. I understand the many benefits that have come with it too, but once again the world was OK before the Internet. People did communicate information and there were ways to find things out. Two things that come to mind that I will definitely miss are record stores and libraries. I think those were nice things and they’re not going to be around very much longer. I think it’s just really unfortunate because I think getting on blogs and reading about things and watching bands on YouTube and stuff isn’t nearly as fun. Can you remember when you would have a record and there’d be maybe like one blurry picture of the band and you’d be like, I wonder what these guys look like, then they finally come to your town and you’d see them and be like wow, there’s that whole mystery to everything has been obliterated.
DT – now you see every time there’s a show, even before the show is done there are all these shitty clips.
CO – Totally, and shows with a thousand people holding up their cell phones and stuff. I don’t know I don’t want to sound like curmudgeon but I guess I’m just a little old timey in that sense.
DT – It’s like what Jean Baudrillard says, the more things get copied the less they mean…Is the value of music changing with the saturation of it in our lives?
CO– Yeah, well, I think it is and I think sadly there’s this idea that it should all be free, which I disagree with. It takes a lot of time and energy and money to make music, to make a record, then just for everyone to say that that should be given away I think it a little, I think if someone doesn’t have money of course I want them to have my music. But we had a way around that back in the day, too, it was called dubbing tapes for friends or you borrow a record from somebody I guess if that’s what was happening on the internet that’s fine, but I know people who have money but who won’t ever pay for a record or a piece of software and they’re kind of like well, why would I? Well, you would because if you don’t these people can no longer to create this stuff that you obviously like consuming. Even looking at it like when there’s music on commercials, it used to be that, and it still is this way to a certain degree, but it used to be that bands would get paid a lot of money to license their music to a commercial, movie or TV show, but now there’s this new thing where people see that as promotion, so it’s like, you should just give us your song and since there’s no such thing as music television anymore, you’re going to learn about a new band from a shampoo commercial, its so ridiculous, It’s starting to have no monetary value whatsoever, its only about what it means to the listener.
DT - For a lot of bands that’s the only way they make money… Do you think that’s viable…
CO – I think that is the way its going, but I hope new ways are invented to get musicians paid for what they’re doing. I’m in a fortunate situation where I’m not desperate for money or anything like that, so I can continue on for a while. Young bands, new bands, they’re in a terrible situation. I don’t think it’s sustainable for them to keep making music.
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20 Band Names From the State of the Union Address
Jan 26th, 2011 @ 11:14 am
Here is my daily post for LAWeekly’s West Coast Sound:
I know what you’re thinking. When you were watching President Barack Obama deliver the State of the Union address last night, there was only one thing on your mind as he explained his plans for getting America back on track: Band names. That’s right, in the course of Barry O.’s hour-long speech, he dropped plenty of band names that could satisfy the needs of millions of hard-working Americans who have joined together for the sake of music. Got an indie band with no name? Barack’s got ya covered. A Hip Hop troupe with no vision? Obama’s on it. Christian Straight-Edge Metalcore band? Yup. I ran the speech through our high tech Bandnamilizer© to give you
20 band names from the State of the Union Address.
20. The Tax Cuts
Genre: Pub Rock
19. (DJ) Clean Coal
Genre: Acid House
Album title: The world’s fastest computer
18. 2,000 Foot Hole
Genre: Alt-Country
17. Edison and the Wright Brothers
Genre: Americana / Folk
Single: “The change has been painful”
16. Free Enterprise (Sound) System
Genre: Hyperdub
15. Pray for the Health
Genre: Christian Straight-Edge Hardcore
14. The Apollo Projects
Genre: East Coast Hip Hop
13. A Light to the World
Genre: Christian Straight-Edge Metalcore
12. Cutting-edge Scientists
Genre: Psychedelic Surf Rock
Album: Surpass the Soviets
11. Determined Enemies
Genre: Thrash Metal
10. The American Family
Genre: Hipster folk
9. Inventors and Entrepreneurs
Genre: Male-female Singer Songwriter Duo
8. Stranglehold
Genre: Gore Core
7. Tucson
Genre: Indie Rock
6. We Do Big Things
Genre: U.K. Nu-Rave
Album title: Bigger than Party
5. Robust Democracy
Genre: Country
4. (the) Corporate Profits
Genre: Politically Edged Hip Hop
3. People Danced in the Streets
Genre: Electro Afrobeat
2. Winning the Future
Genre: Screamo
1. Our Sputnik Moment [Ed.’s Note: not as good as our Sigue Sigue Sputnik moment.]
Genre: Anthemic Indie Rock
BONUS (Boehnerus?)
To keep things bipartisan, here are five bands from the GOP response to the State of the Union speech, by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan.
5. Crushing Burden
Genre: Scandinavian Black Metal
4. Premiums are Rising
Genre: Trip Hop
3. That Violent Morning
Genre: Crabcore
2. Failed Stimulus
Genre: Ghettotech
1. The Unemployed
Genre: Punk
Read the transcripts of the State of the Union Address and the Republican response and tell me the band names you find.
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