The Coachella Hangover...

I boycotted Coachella this year. Why? Three years of horrible experiences. It looks like it was a lot of fun and part of me feels like a should have gone.... Then I remember last years debacle and that feeling of regret seems to vanish. There are TONS of Coachella recaps all over the web today. Be sure to check a few of these out. You can experience the festival without the monstrous line for the port-a-potties, beer addled hipsters groping you in front of the gobi tent, and withut paying $12 dollars for the most disgusting veggie burger youve ever had. Coachella Recaps: The Tripwire - TONS of Videos LA TIMES Buzz Bands Blog - In Depth coverage of every major performance MTV's Subterranean Blog Behind the scenes with UK's Fields at the festival Pitchfork - Coachella Coverage with a slew of photos Rolling Stone - review of RAGE's performance. The only thing Im sad I missed. Boing Boing - entertaining reviews and coverage Brooklyn Vegan - Pics of RAGE at Coachella. Holy crap thats hot. LAist has the same sentiments towards the festival as me. Read all about it here. Metroblogging Los Angeles on the other hand had a great time. TONIGHT IN LOS ANGELES The Minor Canon, The Films, Liam Finn @ Club Spaceland - FREE The Black Pine, The Pity Party, Eagle And Talon, Minutes Til Midnight @ The Echo - FREE Shapes of Race Cars, Van Gunn, City Museum, & Scarlet Rose @ Silverlake Lounge - FREE My Brightest Diamond, Pedestrian @ Troubadour Cornelius. Holy Fuck @ El Rey The Clean Prophets, Mere Mortals, Lost and Found, & The Pacific @ Safari Sam’s A Fine Frenzy @ The Viper Room

The monster is upon us

Coachella is officially underway, with three days chock full of way more fantastic music than is rational to post in one place. Today's roster is made most interesting by the inclusion of hometown champs Silversun Pickups, and of course The Jesus and Mary Chain. And Sonic Youth. And Peaches. And Rufus Wainright. And Jarvis Cocker. And Busdriver and El-P and Gillian Welch. And and and and. See what I mean? As long as you avoid Nickelcreek, you're pretty much golden. Peep the full line-up here. Last year JAX wrote a very solid guide to surviving some of the less friendly aspects of the festival, so brush up before you go and give yourself a case of heat stroke. Have fun, don't die.

Everest, Blonde Redhead, Illinois, pre-Coachella madness

As Coachella approaches, a whole slew of high-profile national acts descend on our glorious if smoggy town, sucking much of the juice away from the local scene. Always one to side with the underdog, yer Uncle Jeb visited Minor Canon's Monday residency show at Spaceland, and was very pleasantly surprised by support act and new locals, Everest. 'New' is maybe not an altogether accurate term, as the band features Russ Pollard and Jason Soda of the Watson Twins band, Davey Latter of Earlimart and then Great Northern (not to mention Stanford Prison Experiment!), and Joel Graves of Earlimart. So maybe newcomers/frickin' all-stars. Monday was their third show ever and they slayed it like the seasoned vets they are. They're on the druggier, sleepier side of the latest indie-country wave, but their songwriting is way stronger and (gasp!) actually unique, and they play with about two busloads more feel, coherence, and dynamics than anybody else yer Uncle's had the pleasure to hear. No downloadable MP3's yet, but peep the owning on the MySpace. I could see Everest doing extremely well very quickly, so keep your ears peeled. Plus Blonde Redhead tonight in Pomona. And Illinois at Spaceland. Holy crap. What else needs to be said? TONIGHT IN LA: [JEB PIX] Blonde Redhead, Annuals @ The Glasshouse, Pomona Glossary, Grand Champeen, Ultra High Frequency, The Winter Blanket, P!stol P!stol @ Knitting Factory The Lemonheads, Icarus Line, Giant Drag @ El Rey DJ Cakes and Beans, Residual Echoes @ The Scene St. James, Glossary, Emily Wells @ Silverlake Lounge [JEB PIX] Illinois, Attack Formation @ Spaceland Jet, The Virgins @ Troubadour The Automatic Music Explosion, Bang Sugar Bang, Fangs on Fur, Bang Bang @ Safari Sam's Dub Club @ The Echo

Let's Independent Tonight At Boardner's

I'm going to be very brief with this post. I'm in my sister Shannon's busted up Corolla driving to St. George, Utah to visit my very pregnant sister Brittany. I completely forgot to mention in my previous post that tonight is Radio Free Silverlake's monthly new music night "Let's Independent" at Boardners in Hollywood. Performing ce soir: The Prix, Radars To The Sky, and the simply adorable Eagle and Talon. Admission tonight is 21 yrs + and totally FREE. You really have no excuse not to go. Radio Free Silverlake Presents "Let's Independent" With performances from: Radars To The Sky The Prix Eagle & Talon 21 yrs + :: Free Admission Address: 1652 N Cherokee Ave (at hollywood blvd) Oh and for those who must know - Brittany is have a baby boy due in about 3 weeks.

Love Letter To Sea Wolf #2: Your New Video Is Amazing

Sea Wolf's Alex Church [MP3] Sea Wolf - You're A Wolf Dear Sea Wolf, Jax here again. I just wanted to write you a quick note about your new video for "You're A Wolf." I logged into my Bloglines this morning and stumbled upon it over on MTV2's Subterranean's Blog. That's HUGE! Congrats. [WATCH VIDEO] Nice to see you're keeping it all in the 'hood with Brian of Silversun Pickups on guitar and Solon from Great Northern on drums. I love the ethereal wolf girl running through the trees - nice touch. Now would she be considered a wolf-ette or a wolf-maiden. Just curious. I will totally be in the crowd at your show this Thursday at The Ex Plex with Earlimart. I will be DJing upstairs at The Echo for Hell Ya! so if you get bored be sure to come and say hello. Yours Truly, JAX Video: Sea Wolf - "You're A Wolf" [WATCH NOW]

The Blood Brothers - Set Fire To The Face On Fire

Catch The Blood Brothers Live TONIGHT At The El Rey [MP3] The Blood Brothers - Set Fire To The Face On Fire I'm going to let y'all in on a little secret. Nothing gets you through 5 hrs of painful rib tattooing like The Blood Brothers latest album Young Machetes. I don't know why but Johnny Whitney's shrill high pitched scream and the band's schizophrenic guitars did just the trick the last time I went under the needle. While I focused on their wild mechanical yet masterfully unstructured music the pain magically melted away. It's better than advil and a shot of whiskey. The Blood Brothers take chaos and artful hardcore to new levels with Young Machetes. The siren call on "Set Fire To The Face On Fire" echoes through the entire song and ends abruptly after 40 seconds of total madness. 2004's Crimes showed a softer more melodic side of the band. Machetes rips Crimes a new one. The Blood Brothers are finishing up their spring tour with Celebration. Los Angeles readers You can catch them tonight at The El Rey Theater. VIDEO: The Blood Brothers - Set Fire To The Face On Fire directed by Roboshobo [WATCH NOW] TONIGHT IN LOS ANGELES: The Blood Brothers, Celebration, Suicide Club @ The El Rey Adult., Erase Errata, Parts and Labor @ Safari Sam's Sasquatch, Smash Fashion, Sweet Evil, Dark Ages @ Silverlake Lounge Ezra Reich, 8mm, Wait Think Fast @ Spaceland Sean Lennon, Women and Children, Kamila Thompson @ The Roxy Xiu Xiu, Sunset Rubdown @ Troubadour Scott H. Biram, The Guilty Hearts, Thee L.A. Gentlemen Callers @ The Scene Club Lavender Mist with Svenadaitor @ Pehrspace

The Stooges Return To Los Angeles

IGGY & THE STOOGES PERFORM TONIGHT AT THE WILTERN [STREAM] Iggy & The Stooges - My Idea Of Fun It's been almost 40 years since Iggy & The Stooges introduced the world to their brand of manic rock n' roll - driven largely by frontman Iggy Pop's self-destructive and deliciously disturbing stage antics. The Stooges' 1969 self-titled debut is long held by many as the first true punk rock record. Their short but eventful career spawned several short but equally intense classics such as "No Fun" and the quintessential punk anthem "Raw Power." Years of drug addiction and Iggy's erratic behavior are commonly cited reasons for The Stooges quick decline. Iggy went on to his own successful solo career and a new Stooges box set seems to get released every few months. More than 30 years after the band's last record, Iggy Pop reunited with his original knuckleheads and went back into the studio to record The Weirdness - a punk rock masterpiece worthy of a true Stooges fan's devotion. Now well into their 50s, the band have seen and done it all. You'd think they'd be burned out on road life, but hell, there's still life in the those old bones. Iggy & The Stooges' party train will be pulling into The Wiltern TONIGHT. These scoundrels haven't lost any intensity over the years. Iggy & The Stooges still got it. I witnessed their pulse pounding performance first hand at their Yahoo! Music Nissan Live Set a few weeks ago. My friend Paul and Uncle Jeb accompanied me to the taping. I was expecting your usual run of the mill cold and sterile TV taping. What I got was a circus. Old school punk rockers came out in droves - complete with dog collars, liberty spikes, and walking canes. Iggy spit water at the crowd, brought the crowd on to the stage, and introduced a cameraman (or 2, or 3) to his manhood. It was intense and I left feeling like I needed a cold shower. If you didn’t get tickets to Iggy & The Stooges SOLD OUT show tonight be sure to check out their Nissan Live Set over at Yahoo! Music. [WATCH NOW] COOL ON THE INTER-NERD: Joe from Radio Free Silverlake was running around like a proud dad at a kindergarten graduation last Thursday at Now Blog This! This is part of the reason we here Rock Insider nub him so much. Head over to RFS and check out videos and photos of the night's tomfoolery, [READ MORE] Little Radio has video of Bjork performing "Earth Intruders" on SNL. Bjork will be headlining Night one of Coachella this Friday April 27th. [WATCH VIDEO] TONIGHT IN LOS ANGELES: Iggy & The Stooges @ The Wiltern Rooney, Phantom Planet, The Feeling, Bleu, Graham Colton @ The Roxy The Minor Canon, Everest, Conner, Liam Finn @ Spaceland The Black Pine, Winter Flowers, The Happy Hollows, Luna is Honey @ The Echo A Static Lullaby, Kaddisfly, A Thorn for Every Heart @ Knitting Factory Anavan, Agape, Laco$te, Destructo Bunny, Beach Balls, Macka @ Pehrspace Dead Ponies, Wires on Fire, Qui (w/David Yow), Black Fur @ Silverlake Lounge Men, Women & Children, Bedouin Soundclash, The Oohlas @ Troubadour View More Listings At Oh My Rockness LA

Now Blog This! TONIGHT At The Scene

Now Blog This! TONIGHT At The Scene In Glendale [MP3] The Pity Party - WMD [MP3] The Clean Prophets - Tambourine Crown [MP3] The Western States Motel - Powerlines [MP3] The Valley Arena - Kick At The Ceiling What happens when you put 4 L.A. Music Bloggers in a room, have them each pick their band du jour and tell them they have free reign of your venue for one evening? Well, I guess will find out TONIGHT at The Scene in Glendale as You Set The Scene, Radio Free Silverlake, Little Radio and yours truly present Now Blog This! - an LA Local Music showcase featuring performances from The Western States Motel, The Pity Party, The Clean Prophets and The Valley Arena. It's going to be BLOGS GONE WILD TONIGHT! Icing on the cake: Kevin Bronson from the LA Buzz Bands Blog and Sylvia from Sea Level will be manning the decks. The Valley Arena I chose The Valley Arena for the show. Dear friends of mine and a crazy talented band that frickin rock on stage. You can read my interview with frontman Warren Woodward right here. -- I really must give a huge shout out to Allen - the talent buyer at The Scene for all his hardwork organizing this show. He is such a stand up guy and truly passionate about music. Thanks for giving us the opportunity! Admission is only $5 and goes straight to the bands - so don't ask me about guestlist. Support the scene yo. SEE YOU TONIGHT!

Silversun Pickups...Who Freakin' Knew

Silversun Pickups [MP3] Silversun Pickups - Melatonin [MP3] Sea Wolf - Black Dirt Silversun Pickups are everywhere right now - Absolutely freaking everywhere. On my way to work I saw 3 bus benches for their new album Carnavas. Their video for "Lazy Eye" is in heavy rotation on MTV2 and Yahoo! Music and KROQ has been playing the track for a few weeks now. The band just finished up a tour with OK Go and Snow Patrol and are gearing up for summer touring with a few headlining dates on the west coast with label mates and my new obsession - Sea Wolf. Silversun went back to where it all started last night - playing a secret show at The Fold's 10 Year Anniversary party at the Silverlake Lounge. They certainly have come a long way since then. Silversun Pickups' next SoCal show will be Fridy April 27th at Coachella. The band will be playing the main stage at 5 PM. Watch The Video For "Lazy Eye" Right Here. Silversun Pickups Headline Dates 08.May.07 ­ Rochester, NY Water Street Music 09.May.07 ­ Toronto, ON Lee¹s Palace 10.May.07 ­ Buffalo, NY Town Ballroom 13.May.07 ­ Baltimore, MD Recher Theatre 14.May.07 ­ Philadelphia, PA Trocadero 15.May.07 ­ New York, NY Webster Hall

Annuals On Tour With Blonde Redhead

Annuals On Tour With Blonde Redhead [MP3] Annuals - Carry Around Annuals put on one the strongest shows at SXSW this year. I witnessed the North Carolina youngsters in action as they bounced around the stage at The Mohawk in Austin. Their exuberant stage show commands your attention and leaves you feeling like you just went on a good jog. The six piece fronted by boy genius Adam Baker have been building up a good amount of buzz over the past few months. After their amazing performance on Conan in January [watch now], major press outlets have started taking a shining to the group. Blogs have been with the band for ages - many placing their debut album, Be He Me, at the top of their 2006 album lists. It's good to see a deserving band get some notoriety. Annuals are currently out on tour with Blonde Redhead and will be pulling into Southern California April 25th for a performance at The Glasshouse in Pomona. Looks like I'll have to make the 30 minute trek into the Inland Empire if I want to see them. Head over to purevolume.com to catch the 2nd episode of their exclusive tour diary. [watch now] Upcoming Annuals Tour Dates Apr 21 The Showbox Seattle, WA* Apr 23 Bimbo's 365 Club San Francisco, CA * Apr 24 Bimbo's 365 Club San Francisco, CA* Apr 25 Glasshouse Pomona, CA* May 1 Granada Dallas, TX* May 2 Stubb's Austin, TX* May 4 Variety Playhouse Atlanta, GA* May 5 Cat's Cradle Carrboro, NC* May 18 Komedia, The Great Escape Festival Brighton, UK May 19 All Tomorrows Parties Festival Minehead, UK May 22 Astoria (supporting The National) London, UK May 23 The 100 Club London, UK May 25 The Barfly (Frog Party) Birmingham, UK May 26 2 Dot Festival Bristol, UK May 27 Dot 2 Dot Festival Nottingham, UK Jun 14 Bonnaroo Manchester, TN *with Blonde Redhead TONIGHT IN LOS ANGELES: Fishtank Ensemble, Eleni Mandell, Charlie Wadhams @ Bordello Casxio, Strength, United By Sound @ Silverlake Lounge Sara Overall, Deccatree, The Chris Paul Overall, The Messies, Sleepless Me, Brett Bixby @ Troubadour Mospeada, Graig Markel, Art Damaged @ The Scene Dub Club @ The Echo Mere Mortals, Aushua @ Spaceland Ron Sexsmith, Rie Sinclair, Tim Myers, David Larring, The Michael Miller Crusade @ Hotel Cafe Dave Palmer @ Largo Aereogramme, The Twilight Sad, A Northern Chorus @ Knitting Factory

The Fold Celebrates 10 Years

Annie Hardy of Giant Drag at Silverlake Lounge circa 2003 - courtesy of kfan THE FOLD MIX [MP3] Castledoor - Burn The Maps [MP3] The Pity Party - WMD [MP3] Ferraby Lionheart - A Crack In Time [MP3] Silversun Pickups - Kissing Families Howdy y'all Im back in Los Angeles after a weekend in San Francisco seeing this band do a special acoustic show at the Apple Store and nail their set at the Fillmore. It's back to work as usual and I promise I will be better about posting this week. On to business: It's a big night for The Fold. The local concert promotion company founded by Scott Sterling will celebrate 10 years of indie rock events in Los Angeles TONIGHT with Rock Insider favorites Castledoor, The Pity Party and some very special guests. The Fold's first show ever was on this very date [Read More]. Since then Scott and the gang have promoted more show than I dare try and count (I'm sure it's up over 3,000). Right now they're averaging 3 sometimes 4 shows a night at different venues all over the eastside. I don't know a single band in Silverlake that hasn't played at least 1 show for them. Acts like Giant Drag, Autolux, Cold War Kids, and Silversun Pickups all got their start doing Fold shows. This very website has already partnered up for 6 shows and we plan on doing more. I could give you hints for who the special guests are, but I'm pretty sure Scott could have me killed if he really wanted to. You'll just have to go tonight at find out. Tickets are $20. You can purchase tickets online at ticketweb and a limited amount of tickets will be released at the door. -- OTHER NEWS: Last friday's show with Peter and The Wolf at Pehrspace was a huge success! Special thanks go out to Adam at Pehrspace, Pauline for doing sound, and Paul Tao for filming the show. We should have video footage from it up shortly. I will be heading to Salt Lake City this weekend to visit my family. Uncle Jeb will be holding down the fort in absence. Be nice to him. He's just an innocent yokel. TONIGHT IN LOS ANGELES: THE FOLD 10 Year Anniversary Show: Castledoor, Pity Party + VERY SPECIAL GUESTS @ Silverlake Lounge Rocky Votolato, Drag The River, Street to Nowhere @ Troubadour The Broken West, Mezzanine Owls, Silverface Champs @ Spaceland In Store: Kind Hearts and Coronets @ Amoeba Records - 7 PM FREE Trainwreck, Nudity, DJ Paparazzi @ Safari Sam's Anders & Woods, Mark Fosson, The Digs, The Neighborhood Bullys @ The Echo The Switch, Coco B's, Hearts of Palm UK, Troika @ The Scene

This week in live music

Arright arright. The Jaxer is indisposed, so I'm presenting you with the usual slew of Monday night options in her stead. This whole week is pretty real, so stay sharp. [JEB PICK] Minor Canon, Pity Party, Volts - Spaceland - 9 PM - FREE -Black Pine, I Make This Sound, The Moon Upstairs, Luther Russell - Echo - 8:30 PM - FREE -Wires on Fire, Moonrats, Genghis Kahn, Nudity - Silverlake Lounge - 9 PM - FREE [JEB PICK] Anavan, This Song Is A Mess But So Am I, Clan Of The Cave Bear, Domm, Sea Org - Pehrspace - 9 PM - $5 suggested donation -The Youngs, Clark 8, Plasticsoul, Devlin Murphy - Mr. T's - 9 PM - FREE -KXLU presents Kimya Dawson (Moldy Peaches), Voice on Tape, Angelo Spencer, Black Black, The Rolltop Loys - Knitting Factory (main stage) - 7:30 PM - $7 -Divisible, The Slow Signal Fade, Circus Minor, Northern - Troubadour - 9 PM - FREE A little sample of the coming week: -TUESDAY: The Swtich at Scene Bar, Rocky Votolato at Troubadour -THURSDAY: Now Blog This at Scene Bar, The Autumns at Roxy, Monsters Are Waiting at Orange County Museum of Art -FRIDAY: Trans Am at Troubadour SATURDAY: Art Brut at Troubadour (sold out) I'm sure Jax will chirp up just as soon as she can and post all the shows I forgot. Keep your nose to the grindstone.

Rock Insider Presents Peter & The Wolf This Friday!

Peter & The Wolf: Red Hunter + Friends [MP3] Peter & The Wolf - The Ivy [MP3] Peter & The Wolf - Safe Travels It is no secret that we here at Rock Insider absolutely love the delicious timber of Red Hunter's haunting voice. Peter and The Wolf did a show with us back in January that was a huge success. When the opportunity to present another show for the wayfaring traveler presented itself - we jumped on the opportunity. Rock Insider is very pleased to present Peter and The Wolf this Friday April 13th at Pehrspace in Echo Park. We're totally flying by the seat of our pants with this one. The bands were recruited last night and the show was literally confirmed this morning. Also performing: The Monolators, Luke Paquin (of Hot Hot Heat Fame), Divisadero, and Fawnhawk. Pehrspace is an awesome art gallery space just off Glendale on the other side of the freeway in Echo Park. They have been doing a lot of shows as of late - including a Monday night residency with quirky electro punk's Anavan. They have been kind enough to host this show with only a few days notice. In return all we ask is that you keep the party indoors (its a residential neighborhood y'all) and be mindful of the 'hood. There is a $5 Donation at the door and the show is All Ages. Peter and The Wolf are currently midway through a U.S. Tour. Red will be selling his new Lo-fi handmade CD, Fireflies at the show. For more tour dates click here. Rock Insider Presents An Evening With Peter & The Wolf With Luke Paquin Fawnhawk Divisadero The Monolators Friday April 13th At Pehrspace (325 Glendale Blvd In Echo Park) $5 Donation || All Ages || Doors At 9 PM For Info Go To rockinsider.com or pehrspace.org

Meric Long Might Be A Musical Genius

San Francisco Folk Duo The Dodos [MP3] Dodo Bird - The Ball [MP3] Dodo Bird - Men I haven't said this of many artists (well at least not today), but I'm pretty sure Meric Long of The Dodos is a musical genius. The fresh faced songwriter and insanely talented guitarist barely looks old enough to buy a drink in the east side dive bars that have welcomed his intriguing music and left of center live show to Los Angeles, CA. The Bay Area resident released his first solo EP under the name Dodo Bird just over a year ago. Logan Kroeber was added on drums and the pairing released a full length, Beware Of The Maniacs, in December of last year. On the surface the record appears to be nothing more than a collection of simple folk songs about life, love, and facial hair. Delve slightly deeper and you will find a masterfully crafted and complex album. Meric's bittersweet vocals battle it out against Logan's frantic toms on tracks such as "Men" and "The Ball." Bridging the sonic gap seamlessly is wonderfully layered acoustic guitar and vocals. I honestly have no idea how they did it. I sat with the record this weekend listening to all the parts individually (it's one of my cuter OCD qualities). I discovered the more you try to pick apart the tracks - the more you find. Insane! The duo changed their name to The Dodos just before playing our first Rock Insider Presents show of the new year with Peter and the Wolf. It was my first time seeing them live. They positioned themselves across from each other on stage - Meric sitting in a bar chair and Logan positioned on a wobbling stool. They launched into their first number and did not hold back. I was positively DUMBFOUNDED by the display of musicianship seen on stage that night. Meric picked his guitar like he had 3 hands. Logan went bananas behind his drum kit - no kick drum, just a trio of toms, a few symbols, and a tambourine ducked taped to his shoe. I could not believe I had never heard of this band before. The Dodos will be performing TONIGHT at Silverlake Lounge with Wovenhand. Admission is $12 at the door. TONIGHT IN LOS ANGELES: Wovenhand, The Dodos, Lamps @ Silverlake Lounge Nightfur, Rocking Horse People, No Little Kindness, Old River School @ The Scene - FREE Die! Die! Die! Gliss, The Moderators @ Club Spaceland Glen Philips @ Largo Unpoppable, Invid, The Janx, Sleeper City @ Mr Ts Bowl The Show is the Rainbow @ Pehrspace Amber Pacific, Just Surrender, Monty Are I, Powerspace @ Troubadour Clouds, Autonym @ Mountain Bar Ladyfox @ The Mint Bitch & The Exciting Conclusion w/ Emily Wells @ Hotel Cafe Automatic Music Explosion, Silver Needle, Inazuma, The Prix. The Lieutenants @ Safari Sam's Crank Sturgeon, P.C.R.V, Moth Drakula, Robedoor, Tik///Tik, Moment Trigger @ Pehrspace Dub Club @ The Echo

Five Questions With Warren of The Valley Arena

[MP3] The Valley Arena - Kick At The Ceiling (NEW TRACK off their Forthcoming Album) I have known Warren Woodward and the men of The Valley Arena for what seems like ages. The Long Beach, CA natives performed at my 21st birthday party back in 2005 and have the distinction of being the first band to ever play a Rock Insider Presents show. They toured extensively off their 2005 debut - Take Comfort In Strangers - which was one of my top album of the year. Still, just yesterday I had someone say they had never heard of the band before. I thought a proper introduction to blog world was in order so I sat down with singer Warren Woodward and picked his brain about their forthcoming record, playing Los Angeles, and the best places to get veggie burgers. Enjoy! 5 QUESTIONS WITH WARREN WOODWARD OF THE VALLEY ARENA RI: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard of The Valley Arena? WARREN: I suppose taking everything we love about the dissonant dc post-punk/dischord era bands like fugazi, but then tempering it with a love for traditional, compact little pop songs - and particularly on the new record adding in a little more in the way of dark grooves and sexiness. RI: Your first L.A. show: Where did u play who was on the bill? WARREN: What was that old indoor skatepark called? Where they served alcohol to minors? It was a rad place - right after we played, Chris our guitarist decided to try to drop in on a half pipe for the first time in his life. He promptly broke his arm, and we didn't play again for four months! I think I was 23 at the time, Mike and Chris would have been 20 and 21. RI: Where do you draw inspiration for the lyrics in your songs? Any common themes? WARREN: The whole new record is about sex and sexuality - not just the act of sex , but the different roles it plays in our lives There's one song, "Kick At The Ceiling" which is about being born and how scary that would be if you new what you were about to get yourself into. A lot of the record covers the progression and different roles sexuality will take on throughout your life - from selfish gratification, to the practicality of reproduction, to the comfort of just wanting a warm body next to you and not wanting to die alone. RI: You also co-direct, produce, and edit music videos. Would we be familiar with any of your work? WARREN: Oddly enough, I'm finishing a video today while I do this interview. I do the videos with my friend Robert Schober, an amazingly talented director and animator. The last two we did together were for The Blood Brothers and Mates of State [view videos here] - the one I'm finishing today is for the band Poison the Well. Robert also did The Valley Arena video for "Paint it Red" [watch now]. ...Oh Chris just told me the venue where he broke his arm was called "Juvee" pretty appropriate for a place where there was a half-pipe and underage drinking. It looked like the place the Foot Clan hang out at. RI: Hahaha. That's awesome. Any plans for touring this summer? WARREN: We just got back from doing a month of touring. We're looking to be out as much this year as possible. I'm guessing June will be our next serious touring and we'll just keep it up through the fall when (hopefully) our new record will finally come out. We'd like to hit Japan for the first time this year as well, we're all dying to go there. Bonus Question: You're a vegetarian. Where's the best place in Los Angeles to get a veggie burger? WARREN: Depends on the situation and what you're into. The studio we did the last record at was right down the street from Astro Burger so that really got me through some tough all nighters - but for pure quality I'd have to say M-Cafe or Real Food Daily for quality vegetarian eats. NOW BLOG THIS! The Valley Arena will be playing Now Blog This! at The Scene Bar April 19th with The Pity Party, The Clean Prophets, and The Western States Motel. The show is curated by local blogs Radio Free Silverlake, You Set The Scene, Little Radio, and Rock Insider. Admission is only $5. Click here for details. VIDEO: The Valley Arena - Paint It Red TONIGHT IN LOS ANGELES: Wovenhand, The Dodos (Dodo Bird), Fortune's Flesh @ Silverlake Lounge Sabrosa Purr, Dead Ponies @ The Echo Mt. Eerie / Microphones, Anna Oxygen, Lucky Dragons, Eric Lindley @ The Smell Minibar, Shane Alexander, The Quiet @ Troubadour Yo! Majesty, Thunderheist, Brother Reade @ Safari Sam's The Press Fire, Solare, Klum @ The Scene Mandi Perkins/Parabola/Looten Rock/Guns, Cries and Alibis, Arden Kaywin, Nick Britt @ The Roxy

Eskimohunter Out of Hibernation. Show TONIGHT at Safari Sam's

Eskimohunter [MP3] Eskimohunter - Walking Tour Of Space I have been a loyal follower of local shoegaze pop outfit Eskimohunter since the band starting playing shows again in June of last year (see photos). Jason 71 and the gang have finally hit their stride. The band SOLD OUT their Winter Carnival in December at Spaceland thanks to a strong amount of word of mouth and a not to be missed live show. I have a feeling good things are in store for the band this year. TONIGHT Eskimohunter will be bringing their blissful drone and amazing multimedia show - complete with video projection and creative lighting, to Safari Sam's as they perform with Sonic Boom (of Spacemen 3, Spectrum, E.A.R.)and LSD And The Search For God. Admission is only $10. TONIGHT IN LOS ANGELES: [JAX PICK] The Minor Canon @ Club Spaceland - FREE [JAX PICK] Glacier Hiking, Automatic Loveletter, Crash Kings @ Troubadour - All Ages FREE! Wires On Fire, Tsk Tsk, Die! Die! Die! Maps and Atlases @ Silverlake Lounge - FREE The Black Pine, The Stevenson Ranch Davidians, Hearts of Palm UK @ The Echo FREE The Front, Saint Motel, The Shakes @ The Viper Room [JAX PICK] Sonic Boom, LSD and The Search For God, Eskimohunter @ Safari Sam's Mickey Champion @ Bordello Clark 8, Codpiece, The Moon Drops, The Health Club @ Mr Ts Bowl Anavan, Atole, TV Sheriff, The Lunar Project, Bon Voyage @ Pehrspace - $5 [JAX PICK] Rooney, Ozma, Everybody Else, Chris Stills @ The Roxy The Killers, Howling Bells, Solarcade @ Staples Center The Binges Rock! Rock! Rock! Lightning Bill, Sergeant, Dirty Sweet, DJ Kii @ King King The Tim Jones Band, Brian Wright and The Waco Tragedies, Tom Freund, Matt The Electrician @ Hotel Cafe Action 45, Tweak Bird, The Midnight Shakes @ The Scene

Man Man TONIGHT At The Roxy

Man Man TONIGHT at The Roxy Rock Insider is pleased to present MAN MAN with SIMON DAWES and The Ventriloquists TONIGHT at The Roxy Theatre on the Sunset Strip. I'm sorry I've been such a stranger. I started a new position in a new department this past Monday and it is eating up a lot of my time. For the curious who must know - I am still in the big round building. I have a good feeling about staying even though for the time being I am slightly overwhelmed with the whole thing. Look one post down and you will see I have hired a new writer on my site to help with the transition. His name is Uncle Jeb and will be covering random concerts and reviewing records for RockInsider.com. He's snarky and does a decent job for an English Major. Feel free to e-mail him and give him crap. unclejeb@gmail.com Hope To See See Y'all TONIGHT!!!!

A first visit with Uncle Jeb: HEALTH slays you

Now listen here, youngins. I'm yer Uncle Jeb, and seeing as how Jax has her hands more than full enough these days, what with her new live series at The Roxy, the fiery, handbasketed collapse of the music business, and what have you, I'm going to be playing a periodic support role at RockInsider. I might end up being around here a while, so git used to it. And go make me a sammich. All ill-considered Appalachian caricatures aside, I want to tell you about a band called HEALTH, who I watched open for Anavan this past Monday at Pehrspace. If HEALTH are new to you, they're centered around absolutely concussive, almost tribal drumming, on top of which they layer severe and unpredictable texture contrasts that range from more conventional noise/punk riffs torn out of metric context, to all-band a cappella chanting, to uniquely shocking walls of hopelessly corrupted guitar noise. They keep their focus in directing the brutality and disorientation toward the revelatory, which to me makes them one of the very best bands to emerge from the Smell-centric noise scene. Between self-booked national tours already under their belt and a full-length in the works, these dudes will only continue to blow shit apart. If you don't believe me, peep this MySpace video of HEALTH killing it last year in Chicago.

Rock Insider Presents: Man Man, Simon Dawes April 5th At The Roxy

Man Man's latest release - Six Demon Bag is Out Now on Ace Fu Records [MP3] Man Man - Van Helsing Boombox [MP3] Simon Dawes - Salute The Institution I cut my teeth in the Los Angeles music world far from the eastside dives and small indie venues of Silverlake. I moved to Los Angeles at the ripe old age of 19 and found it impossible to get into most venues that were 21 yrs + Sure you can get far with fake IDs, but I was blessed with the inability to lie convincingly. The second I was outed by a security guard for not being "Martha Pufferkins" I would burst into tears. With no other option westside all ages haunts like The Troubadour, The Roxy, and The Knitting Factory became my home away from home (well, home away from car). Then magically I turned 21 yrs old and was able to broaden my music options considerably. Somehow I lost sight of the westside. It's been a long time since I've been immersed in that world and even longer since I've put on an event on thats side of town. After meeting the positively wonderful people who work for The Roxy I decided to give the Sunset Strip another chance. Without further ado Rock Insider is very pleased to present Man Man with local favorites Simon Dawes and The Ventriloquists April 5th at The Roxy Theatre! Man Man's latest release Six Demon Bag is a raucous record filled with Vaudevillian character and punk rock crass. Pitchfork gave it an appropriate 8.3 rating. Records that break the norm to this degree are few and far between. Added bonus - The band's live show has long been heralded as "Totally Bananas." Download Six Demon Bag on iTUNES. Simon Dawes had an insanely busy 2006. The Northridge, CA natives latest album, Carnivore, came out on Record Collection, the band hit the road with Band Of Horses, and somehow they found the time to set up shop at The Echo for a Free Monday Night Residency. With an arsenal of solid tracks founded in progressive folk Simon Dawes certainly entertain. Download Carnivore on ITUNES. Tickets to the show are $10 in advance and $12 the day of the show. See you there! TONIGHT IN LOS ANGELES: [JAX PICK] The Minor Canon, Nico Stai, Repeater, The By and By @ Spaceland - FREE [JAX PICK] Ratatat, 120 Days, Despot @ Henry Fonda Theatre Wires On Fire, Sabertooth Tiger@ Silverlake Lounge - FREE ACT OUT! Larry Bagby Max Ciano Cory Lamb @ Tangier The Binges, Price, The New Hotness, Steel @ King King Deimos @ Troubadour Ernie Halter, Nina Story, Jordan Lawhead, Tim Fagan, Aaron Mannino @ Hotel Cafe [JAX PICK] Anavan, Health, A++ Foot Village @ Pehrspace Totally Radd!! Pop Noir Eastern Conference Champions, Circus Minor @ The Viper Room The Secret Handshake, New Year's Day, Peachcake, Halos, The Bleeding Alarm @ Knitting Factory Front Room [JAX PICK] Andy & Frankie's Social Club Presents ROONEY/Big City Rock/Golden State/Scanners @ The Roxy - $10 The Black Pine, The Poor Excuses, Lion Of Panjshir @ The Echo - FREE Quan & the Chinese Take-Outs, The Changos,The Spanks @ The Scene, Glendale A Faulty Chromosome, Waterlaso, and Tanks, Clark 8 @ Mr T's Bowl