After a successful inaugural season that included The Afternoons, The Deadly Syndrome, The Parson Red Heads, Whispertown 2000, The Broken West, Le Switch, Radar Bros., The One AM Radio, Eulogies, Langhorne Slim, One Trick Pony, Local Natives, and Saint Motel, the family-friendly Kidrockers LA returns this Sunday to The Echo, hosted by comedians Matt Dwyer and Matt Braunger with music by The Damselles & the TC4 and Quazar & the Bamboozled. more ›

Since LAist's last report on Kidrockers, the monthly event entertaining families with live music and stand-up comedy, two more shows have taken place -- a Dangerbird Records presentation with The One AM Radio and Eulogies on April 26th at The Echo, and a special pre-Mother's Day Spa Retreat benefiting Kid's Play International with Le Switch and Afternoons on May 9th at Castle Ivar in Hollywood. more ›

Last Sunday was the fourth edition of Kidrockers at The Echo (MySpace), hosted by comedians Matt Dwyer (MySpace) and Matt Braunger (MySpace), with performances by local indie bands Le Switch (MySpace) and Radar Bros (MySpace). more ›

Every so often when we feel so inspired to do so, we feature a photo from a photographer in the LAist Flickr Pool. It's another way of giving the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention that they deserve. Everyone knows Santa Monica College has a radio station (KCRW 89.9). And CSUN (KCSN 88.5) and CSULB (KJAZZ 88.1) too. Even Pasadena City College (KPCC 89.3) and USC (KUSC 91.5) have theirs. Where is UCLA's?... more ›

You might recall that right around Labor Day we celebrated KCRW's 30th anniversary of Morning Becomes Eclectic with a series of interviews with a handful of their on-air personalities. Today we are lucky enough to get the Top 10 list of Nic Harcourt's top albums of 2007. We are very happy to see that he's just as down with local kids Sea Wolf and Great Northern as we are. Not only that, but atop his list is another local girl, Jesca Hoop! more ›

Eulogies Eulogies Dangerbird Records Release Date: 09/11/07 Peter Walker did the right thing when he decided to ditch the solo career for his band Eulogies. For some reason or another, his solo career didn't interest me, but Eulogies' self-titled 2007 release has proven otherwise. The new album is a striking and addictive indie rock endeavor, the antithesis of Walker's previous Wilco-compared work. Eulogies is built upon deceivingly poppy premise. The band name, lyrical content,... more ›

Artist: Dappled Cities Release Date: June 2007 Album: Granddance Label: Dangerbird Records The Aussie band Dappled Cities (formerly Dappled Cities Fly) are often compared to the Flaming Lips and I just don't get it. The Dappled Cities produce measured indie rock that has marching highs and Sigur Ros-like lows but none of the crazy, out-there solos or fantastical weirdness of the Lips. Their release, Granddance, on LA's Dangerbird Records, is 11 tracks of well-crafted... more ›

Sea Wolf played right around this time yesterday. They were great (photo essay here). Unfortunately our cameraman was not. He had been drinking, and it appears the camera that he spent a fortune on isn't so great. And neither is the Google Video uploading compression ratio. Fortunately you get the gist of what it was like on the roof of Dangerbird Records as Sea Wolf played "The Garden You Planted" (above) and a new... more ›

Come out and support local music labels and artists at A Community Record Fair, presented by Dublab and The LA Record this Sunday, May 20 at The Echoplex. Record labels, stores, DJs and independent collectors will offer new and used vinyl, CDs, DVDs, cassettes and collectible rarities. Visual artists, bookstores and clothing designers will also present their creative gems at special prices. For artist olive47, who designed the stuffed creatures above, this will be one of her last appearances in LA as she prepares to move to London. "I'm selling plush dolls, handscreened T-shirts, prints, stickers and badges," she says. more ›

Sea Wolf opened for Sloan last night at the Troubadour. The band featured music soon-to-be released EP, Get To The River Before It Runs Too Low. Lead singer Alex Brown Church, the bands only invariable member and also current member of the band Irving, felt like a young Jeff Tweedy. The kind of guy who can’t help but seem genuine in everything he does. Melodically lilting and filled with hopefully melancholy, the songs fit the... more ›

Fri 6/9 - Silversun Pickups / Film School @ the Echo ($10) – The Silversun Pickups drop their debut full-length, Carnavas, on July 25th on Dangerbird Records. The record is consistently strong and they're one of the handful of local bands with a really good chance of blowing up this year. Expect to hear a few Smashing Pumpkins comparisons in the reviews (classic Gish/Siamese Dream-era Pumpkins). San Francisco’s Film School frequently gets favorably compared to your favorite Manchester bands. more ›

Tues 5/30 - Bedroom Walls / Let’s Go Sailing / Lavender Diamond @ Troubadour ($8) – Catch three strong local bands on one bill. Bedroom Walls has a new, critically acclaimed album on Baria Records. Download “Somewhere in Newhall (string quartet version)” Let’s Go Sailing is Shana Levy with various members of Silversun Pickups, Tanya Haden and others helping her out from time to time. Lavender Diamond is Becky Stark backed by some other talented, soft 1970’s-style rockers. They’ve gotten a lot of strong national press lately. Download “You Broke My Heart” If you want something less mellow, try Pinback at the Avalon. more ›

Fri 5/26 - Elefant / Voxtrot / Silversun Pickups @ the Wiltern ($20) – Elefant's new album, The Black Magic Show, is out on Hollywood Records. They've got a stylish front man with lots of swagger and they should appeal to fans of the Killers and She Wants Revenge. Silversun Pickups are getting ready to release their debut full-length, Carnavas, on Dangerbird Records on July 11th. The people who’ve heard it say it’s really good and that they’ve outdone their EP. Austin’s Voxtrot are definitely a band to keep your eye on. Their recent EP is full of infectious, early 80s, Smiths-style rock. They just toured the country with local heartthrobs, Irving. Download Voxtrot’s “Mothers, Sisters, Daughters and Wives” more ›

Mon 5/15 – The Bronx / Wires on Fire / Sabertooth Tiger @ Spaceland (Free) – Mondays are still free at Spaceland. This week you can see three loud, punk-inspired bands. The Bronx portray Black Flag in the new movie about Germs’ singer, Darby Crash. You can watch the trailer for that movie HERE. The Bronx and Wires on Fire will soon be on tour with Priestess and Riverboat Gamblers (they better have their game tight, because both of those bands are really good live). Sabertooth Tiger has a new album coming out next month on GSL. more ›