The Mae Shi

Baron Von Luxxury on His Friends' Double-Suicide, Five Years Later

Blake Robin is a nu-disco producer and DJ who performs under the name Baron von Luxxury. In the summer of 2007, his close friends Theresa Duncan and Jeremy Blake, a glamorous couple who were fixtures in the New York art scene, both committed suicide. She died from an overdose of Tylenol PM combined ... More >>

Fanatics! Henry Rollins' KCRW Show Tomorrow Night: California Love

KCRW Broadcast #158 for Saturday, March 31, 2012 See also: Henry Rollins: The Column! The Ugly World of eBay Hustling Fanatics! Tomorrow night we have a bit of a concept show for your enjoyment. Since I write this ahead of a show in San Diego, I thought it would be a great idea to play bands from ... More >>

The Mae Shi Reunite!

The Mae Shi​The Mae Shi never broke up, technically. Still, the L.A. group's last show was nearly three years ago, in Germany, and featured only one original member. In the meantime, they've all gone on to other projects; co-founder Jeffrey Byron has worked with Busdriver, Brad Breeck is a te ... More >>

Music Picks: Coldplay, Estelle, Joss Stone, Lana Del Rey

Also, Enuff Z'Nuff, Gizzelle, Goliath and others

Fanatics! Henry Rollins' KCRW Show Saturday Night: L.A. Weekly Cover Stars Tearist, Plus La Sera, Lydia Kavina

Timothy Norris​KCRW BROADCAST #113 for Saturday, May 7. Fanatics! Greetings from Louisiana. I am down here doing a little work with National Geographic. It's just the start of a lot of footage we will be shooting over the next several weeks all over America and abroad. It's going to be very ho ... More >>

Fanatics! Henry Rollins' KCRW Show Saturday Night: Ludos, Buzzcocks, Joy Division

Timothy Norris​KCRW BROADCAST #109 for Saturday, April 9. Fanatics! If you notice, our show tonight does all it can to evade all classification. Perhaps the single song that embodies the idea behind the overall is track two, our Ludus. Check that arrangement! That's what tonight's show is all ... More >>

Music Picks: Physical Forms, Kimya Dawson, Madame Recamier, Young Hunting

Also, Lizz Wright, Wanda Jackson, Iron and Wine, Wallpaper. and others

8 Last-Minute Gift Ideas for L.A. Music Lovers (and Obsessives)

​There's always that someone in your family or group of friends or entourage (this is LA we're talking about after all) who is a little intimidating come Holidays gift season. They're way into music, but they're into music in an obsessive way that seems to say "you'll never be able to find a m ... More >>

Jacob Safari Remixes Dead Western Plains, Channels Animal Collective and Jesus Christ [Exclusive MP3]

Fort Lowell presents Dead Western Plains reworked by Jacob Safari​We like Fort Lowell Records. They aren't based in L.A., but we don't hold that against 'em. The year-old Tuscon seven-inch label has a commitment to both purty packaging and top tuneage, and they've tapped local scene star Jacob ... More >>

Free MP3: Busdriver Goes DIY, Joins a Band and Splits a 7-Inch with ... Deerhoof?

Daiana FeuerRegan Farquhar gets Physical​About a year ago, Regan Farquhar sat in The Casbah Cafe drinking mint tea. He poked at his cake like it represented everything about his latest Busdriver album, Jhelli Beam. He'd been eating it since he was fifteen years old and it just wasn't as appet ... More >>

Exclusive: Busdriver and Nocando Form Alt-Rap Superduo, Flash Bang Grenada

Flash Bang Grenada are Busdriver and Nocando, L.A.'s 'last-ditch rap effort'​You heard it here first. West Coast Sound has obtained a mysterious missive announcing the launch of Flash Bang Grenada, an apparent partnership between veteran alt-rapper Busdriver and resident Low End Theory emcee N ... More >>

Tonight: Physical Forms (ex-Mae Shi), White Arrows, Grouplove, Fol Chen, Twilight Sleep, Gliss, Halloween Swim Team

via seancarnage.comPhysical Forms​L.A. art-pop outfit the Mae Shi (2003-2009) were so much fun people missed them when they were sleeping, so you can imagine how fans felt when they broke up. (Or seemed to, since the message on their MySpace page still reads "We do not break up.") Now comes w ... More >>

Music Picks: Dr. John, Herbie Hancock, Sunset Strip Music Festival

Also, Funkfest, Chromeo, Slayer and others

Hypercolors, Nicole Kidman, Generation, Dimples, So Many Wizards

Watch: Best Coast Meets Kid Cudi Meets Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij in 'All Summer'

Kid Cudi​File this one under: "Shilling for shoes." A couple of weeks ago we hipped you to the pending Converse-sponsored collaboration between L.A.'s rising surf-pop princess Bethany Cosentino, a.k.a. Best Coast, Cleveland rapper Kid Cudi and New York's Rostam Batmanglij, who sometimes perfo ... More >>

Best Coast Is Best California Band of 2010 (According to Bostonians)

Drew Tewksbury​A few years ago, The Phoenix, Boston's leading alt-weekly, came up with a neat annual music future: they surveyed the US state-by-state and had their music critics pick the best "new" band from each state. The first year they did this, 2008, they also picked the best group and s ... More >>

The One AM Radio Releases 3-D Video, Limited 7-Inch [MP3]

Hrishikesh Hirway of the One AM Radio​It's been awhile since we've heard from Los Feliz's the One AM Radio. The group led by Hrishikesh Hirway dropped its third full-length on Dangerbird in early 2007, the excellent This Too Will Pass, but the last three years have been relatively quiet. Un ... More >>

SXSW Wrap-Up: L.A.'s Signals Road Album, Featuring UFOs, Motel Bedspreads, and Jaeger Shots!

Road to SXSW: L.A.'s Signals investigates UFO's, motel bedspreads, and Jager Shots

I Love Rock & Roll (Movies): The Nightranger's Guide to LA Band-dom On Film

[Lina Lecaro writers our amazing Nightranger column every week. Check out her explorations of LA nightlife here.] With The Runaways bringing rock n' roll to movie theaters this week (see a report from the premiere here), we've been thinking about our favorite band n' beat packed films lately. Docum ... More >>

Last Night: Dios Celebrates Their New Record Release at the Troubadour

At long last ending a four-year gap between albums, Hawthorne psych-rock quartet Dios celebrated the release of its third LP at the Troubadour on Tuesday by opening the venue's doors to all comers free of charge. Timothy Norris​ WEAREDIOS came out earlier that day on Buddyhead Records, show ... More >>

Rock Picks: Steve Earle, Polvo, These Arms Are Snakes, Correatown

Also, Bob Dylan & His Band, Motorhead, John Doe & Exene Cervenka and others

Live at the Smell Documentary Release at Downtown Independent

Live at the Smell Documentary Release at Downtown Independent

Rock Picks: Sly & Robbie, Johanna Kunin, White Rabbits, Daniel Francis Doyle

Also, Blue Jungle, A Camp, Neko Case, Jay Reatard and others

Sizzling Benefit For Taco Zone Fire At Spaceland Friday

Tacos might be the after-dark snack du jour on the Eastside, but apparently not everybody's down for truckin'. Last week, Echo Park's best known mobile Mexi muncher, the Taco Zone, caught fire after two unidentified persons threw some type of molotov cocktail (twice) at the beloved truck, parked in ... More >>

Rock Picks: Winifred E. Eye, Stagecoach, Marianne Dissard, Thao

Also, Franz Nicolay, Sweet, Tinted Windows and others

Emily Lacy's Machine Project Music Compiled, Edited and Available as 'Myriad'

Emily Lacy on a couch lighting up a cigarette. Folk butterfly Emily Lacy recently completed a six week long residency called Myriad at Echo Park's Machine Project. Inspired by the idea of creating "an environment that would be pleasant to come down and play music in and that people could come join ... More >>

Rock Picks: Leonard Cohen, Wavves, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Britney Spears

Also, The Henry Clay People, Vetiver, Mad Professor and others

Rock Picks: Black Mountain, PJ Harvey and John Parish, Alice Russell, Starfucker

Also, T-Model Ford, the Sadies, Van Dyke Parks and others

West Coast Sound: An L.A. Music Pro's Guide to South by Southwest

Ten to watch: The next Ford jingle?

LA at SXSW Tip #1: Is Fol Chen the City's Best New Band?

At least 171 Los Angeles-area acts will represent at the South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas, next week, and they range from metal (Ancestors, Metallica, Black Math Horseman), acoustic (Jim Bianco, Tom Brosseau, Tori Amos) and punk (Japanese Motors, the Mae Shi, DEVO) to hip-hop ( ... More >>

Mika Miko Announce Release Date for We Be Xuxa on PPM Records

Mika Miko: They be xuxa. Given that they've been around since 2003, it's kinda shocking that LA's Mika Miko have released only one proper full-length. Yeah, they've had their cassettes and demos and 7-inches and compilation appearances and their fantastic 666 EP on Post Present Medium. Last year's ... More >>

LA LA: Weiss' Top 10 Local Albums of 2008

How last month of me....However, since I sleep on the hometown scene all-too-frequently, consider this mild penance. 10. Dengue Fever-Venus on Earth (M80) Dreamy and druggy psychedelia built on a bedrock worship of 60s Cambodian pop, and the ethereal buoyancy of Chom Nmol's voice. Adorned w ... More >>

Rock Picks: Scarcity of Tanks, the Walkmen, Chromeo

Also, the Ettes, the Dogs, George Jones and others

The 25 Best Non Hip-Hop Songs of 2008 (M-Z)

Mezzanine Owls-"Snow Globe" Because it never snows in Los Angeles, we're forced to romanticize it. The first draft of "White Christmas," originally chided a spoiled Angeleno,"longing to be up North on December 24," surrounded by sunshine, green grass and swaying palms. The closest you get to w ... More >>

The Next Big Thing at the Detour Festival: Buraka Som Sistema's Kuduro Beats and the Sound of Tomorrow

The Portuguese DJ collective's rhythms have yet to catch on here, but they will

Rock Picks: Sunset Junction Street Festival, El Vez, Café Tacuba

Also, Veruca Salt, Mike Einziger, Kings X and Junior Brown

This Weekend: The Mae Shi, Fleet Foxes, T.A.M.I. Show at Cinespia

Tonight at Sugar in Silverlake, the Mae Shi play at the Spectrum art opening (see below). The Fleet Foxes, of Seattle, bring their harmonies to the Echo on Saturday and Spaceland on Sunday. Also check out my interview with singer Robin Pecknold in this week's print edition.

Weiss' Muxtapes #5 and #6: The Best "Indie" Songs To Get An Asymmetrical Haircut To (2008 Edition)

I won't deny it. Things started spiraling rapidly downhill the moment I started compiling mixtapes of my favorite non-hip hop songs released this year. Vampire Weekend? Santogold? Hercules & The Love Affair? I kind of wanted to kick my own ass or at the very least give myself a wedgie. Of cour ... More >>

Another guide to LA Bands at SXSW

Here's a list of LA bands/songwriters to chase down at SXSW in Austin next week. This is a tipsheet for those of you with $$$ in your eyes. Looking for a band to break, license, co-opt, manipulate, convince to sell out? Here are some tips. Abe Vigoda Gender: Four men Their MySpace descriptive: "Tr ... More >>

Rock Picks: New York Dolls, Lizz Wright, Brother Ali

And other March 6-13 shows

A Guide To the LA Bands At SXSW

So I'll be covering SXSW next week for the LA Weekly. I have never been nor do I have any idea of what to expect. I'm pretty excited to go though. I've been asking around and have generally been met with the boiler-plate response that "SXSW is awesome." However, one friend did tell me to expe ... More >>

Rock Picks: Circle Jerks, Money Mark, No Age

For the week of Jan. 3 - 10

Germs, Adolescents, Key Club, 12/28

The Mae Shi jump start the night with some fresh blood. They'll be at the Smell in downtown Jan. 3rd, 2008. The Adolescents get the pit rockin! The hardcore fans swallowed this set a little easier than the Germs set with the "actor" in the vocal slot. Frank Agnew, Jr. on guitar. (Uncle Fran ... More >>

Rock Picks: Supersuckers, Bloc Party, Melvins

Dec. 27 - Jan. 3

Rock Picks

For the week of February 22 – March 1

Rock Picks

For the week of Oct. 5–12

Rock Picks

For the week of September 14–21

Peter Voulkos - Wed., Feb. 8

2005 LA Weekly Music Awards

Boys/Men of the World