Hot Hot Heat

Top 10 Most Exciting L.A. Indie Labels of 2010

Top 10 Most Exciting L.A. Indie Labels of 2010

Yo Gabba Gabba's 'Party In My City' Entertains Breeding Hipsters and their Kids ("Kidsters"?)

Lina LecaroThe biggest show -and wildest crowd- Nokia Theatre may have ever seen. ​ Kiddie faux-hawks, fashionably mismatched tutu ensembles and tattoos (fake on tykes, real on moms and dads) swarmed upon L.A. Live in downtown this past weekend, when the trendster tyke sensation Yo Gabba Gabb ... More >>

Nightranger: Step Into Liquid

This Weekend: HARD Summer, Silversun Pickups, Weezer, New L.A. Folk Festival, Power of the Riff festival

Soulwax​The two most pressing questions about Saturday's HARD Summer in downtown Los Angeles have nothing to do with quality. With Soulwax, Crystal Castles and Major Lazer topping a bill that includes the likes of Flying Lotus and Diplo, promoter Gary Richards has assembled the kind of dance ... More >>

Tonight: Circa Survive, Cold War Kids, Eels, Rademacher, PB Wolf, William Fitzsimmons

Circa Survive​When vocalist Anthony Green broke away from the Orange County screamo outfit Saosin six years ago, it didn't look like the best of career moves. Saosin was a rising star on the post-hardcore scene and poised to sign a major-label contract; Green was headed back home to Pennsylvan ... More >>

Tonight: Smashing Pumpkins, Damien Jurado, Hot Hot Heat, Dr. Dog, Voxhaul Broadcast

Timothy NorrisSmashing Pumpkins at the Gibson Amphitheatre, December 2008​On the surface, the songs on the first EP in the Smashing Pumpkins' ambitious 44-song Teargarden by Kaleidyscope seem to reflect the time main man Billy Corgan spent communing with Spirits in the Sky. Spirits, the side ... More >>

Tonight: Josh Ritter, Stars, Abstract Rude, Hot Hot Heat, Ashes Divide, Lucy Woodward

Josh Ritter​When the New York Times recently referred to Josh Ritter as a staple of "what might be called the soft-rock establishment: NPR, Starbucks and noncommercial radio stations," it wasn't pejorative. Ritter has long been a hero to fans seeking literate songwriting and engaging storytel ... More >>

Vinyl of the Week: Vintage Psych-Pop and a Blondie Cover from L.A.'s Mini Mansions [MP3]

In the strange wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES reviews the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community, believing that good music deserves much more than a handfu ... More >>

Live in L.A.: Junip (with José González), Hot Hot Heat / Eastern Conference Champions, Shellshag, Local H, Strangeloop

Junip​It's not like José González always traded in soft stuff; the Swedish singer-songwriter with Argentine bloodlines got his start in a Gothenburg punk bands before marrying his velvety voice and nylon-stringed guitar to fashion the sound you probably first heard on "The O.C." His side pro ... More >>

Live in L.A.: Merle Haggard, X, Playboy Jazz Festival, Henry Rollins, Murs, the Glitch Mob, Dr. John, Tortoise

​Even if the only ink you sweat is your printer cartridge and your idea of iron comes in your vitamin supplements, there's a lot to recommend at this weekend's Ink-N-Iron Festival: the tunes. Among the the tatted masses, meticulously coiffed pompadours, corseted pin-up girls and acres of machi ... More >>

Live in L.A.: Karen Elson, Themselves (with Talkdemonic and Baths), the Good Life

Danny SwansonKaren Elson​If you can get past Karen Elson's flaming red hair, if you can get past her unblemished skin, if you can get past her supermodel comportment, if you can get past the fact she's Mrs. Jack White ... well, you should. The 31-year-old singer plays Southern gothic chanteuse ... More >>

Hot Hot Heat Dominate June With a New Album, Video, and Residency at the Bootleg

Hot Hot Heat Dominate June With a New Album, Video, and Residency at the Bootleg

Live in L.A.: Thao and Mirah With the Most of All, We Barbarians, Line and Circle

Photo by John VandersliceThao and Mirah​Bay Area-based indie-folk songstresses Thao Nguyen and Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn each has built estimable catalogs over the past several years, Nguyen under her tongue-twisting moniker Thao With the Get Down Stay Down and Mirah as, well, Mirah. They teamed u ... More >>

Live in L.A.: School of Seven Bells, the Living Sisters, Hot Hot Heat, Cute Is What We Aim For

School of Seven Bells​Benjamin Curtis became every wannabe-shoegazer's idol in 2008, when School of Seven Bells unleashed its floating-through-the-stratosphere fuzz-pop on the world -- finding the ex-Secret Machines guitarist situated squarely in between fetching identical twins Alejandra and ... More >>

Hot Hot Heat: Born-Again Indies

Band relaunches itself as a Dangerbird Records act

Hot Hot Heat's Indie Reinvention Continues with Bootleg Theater Residency, Dangerbird Records Album, and Free Origami In-Store

Darren AnkenmanHot Hot Heat​Kevin Bronson wrote a great feature for our print edition this week on the rebirth of former big-label hopefuls Hot Hot Heat as a proper indie act (courtesy of LA's Dangerbird Records). The band will be playing their new material at a month-long Wednesday residence ... More >>

Music Picks: Jail Weddings, Summer Darling, Roky Erickson, Jonathan Richman

Also, Bajofondo, Massive Attack, Minus the Bear and others

Last Night: Cut Copy's Ingratiating Simplicity

Timothy NorrisFans at Cut Copy: Overjoyed, to say the least. Like The Editors and the Shitty Beatles, Cut Copy practically begged for derision the moment they named themselves. Let's be honest, these guys aren't exactly re-inventing the synthesizer, openly cribbing from New Order, Duran Duran, and ... More >>

The 50 Best Albums of the Year (#20-11) (Sponsored By Teen Wolf Too)

Some might say this was the finest work Jason Bateman would ever do. 20. Al Green-Lay It Down (Blue Note) What more did you want from Al Green? Did you want him to wear Levar Burton sunglasses and use auto-tune? Did you want him to do a ladies only tour? Did you want him to employ interplanet ... More >>

Preschool Confidential

Season two of seminal kids’ show Yo Gabba Gabba! has arrived. DJ Lance Rock and others attempt to explain its allure

Sunset Strip Music Festival

Von Bondies, Safari Sam's, 5/23

Bondies Battle On It’s been nearly 4 years since The Von Bondies breakthrough Pawn Shoppe Heart helped them pierce the indie-rock bubble of obscurity –due both to infectious pop grinders on that disc like the buoyant single “C’mon C’mon” and (according to Jack White, at least) -the wide ... More >>

Wolf Parade’s At Mt. Zoomer: Great Record, Terrible Title

Regardless of what you think of their music, you've got to respect Wolf Parade. When Apologies to the Queen Mary dropped in late 2005 and every music journo prematurely slapped "next Arcade Fire" tags on them, they very easily could've played the comparison to the hilt, touring relentlessly, made ... More >>

Rock Picks: The Kooks, Super Furry Animals, Willie Nelson and more

For the week of Feb. 7-14

Upcoming Shows

Ryan Adams - Royce Hall, Jan. 30 & 31 Dave Alvin - McCabe's Jan. 18 & 19 Autechre - Echo, April 4 Bad Religion - House of Blues, April 4 & 5 Big Sandy, Deke Dickerson - Safari Sam's, Dec. 28 Black Heart Procession - Spaceland, Jan. 11 Black Mountain - Troubadour, Feb. 5 Built to Spill, Meat P ... More >>

The 10 Best Local Albums Of 2007

10. Sea Wolf-Leaves in the River At times, Leaves In the River reads a little predictably quirky, but Alex Church's pop heart salvages this from being the effort of another accordian-toting, maritime metaphor-using copycat. The sound might not be the most original (I can't wait for Colin Meloy' ... More >>

Sunset Smackdown

Clowns to the left, hipsters to the right

Art

The Lashes at Spaceland, December 9

Music Picks

For the week of March 10 - 16

The Lashes

Beauty Bar Superstar

The Room Is Spinning!

DJs keep these bars happening

Sister Gurls

Tegan and Sara make the world a more kick-ass place

Stripping Lessons

Choking With Rage

Amon Tobin goes for the jungular

Miracle in the Desert

Crossed Wires

Next Big Thing: Looking for That Song