The Monday Set: Shout Out Louds – Los Angeles – 5/23/2013
Stockholm's Shout Out Louds have just finished their US tour in support of the new album Optica with a two-night stand at LA's El Rey Theater. It was their first visit to the city in three years. If you haven't heard them before, their music can be described as often bleakly wistful lyrics completely camouflaged by bright, sunny tunes (More...)
Magnolia Electric Co. – Baton Rouge – 9/27/2006
The terrible news yesterday was of Jason Molina’s passing. Jason was the force behind the Songs: Ohia moniker (largely for his own solo work) and Magnolia Electric Co (which saw him working with a regular band). I saw Jason perform three times, in 2004 (Charlottesville), 2006 (Baton Rouge), and 2007 (New Orleans). I spoke with him on two of those occasions. (More...)
Magnetic Fields – Andrew In Drag (Live)
In March of 2012 Stephen Merrit released the best Magnetic Fields album since 2004's i. The album features songs with classic Stephin Merritt charm and benefits from vast improvements in production over recent releases. This album should have been nothing but aces, but it could have been a whole lot better (More...)
Robyn Hitchcock – The Executioner (Live)
I have had several conversations about which band/artist can claim responsibility for setting the precedent of touring behind a long since released back-catalog album that has reached 'classic' status for a full cover-to-cover live rendition. Many have done it, and based on my sampling, I have been generally pleased that the concept has taken hold (More...)
The Monday Set: The Raveonettes – Los Angeles – 10/8/2012
We saw Danish group The Raveonettes in what was our second show at The El Rey Theater in about a ten-day span. This was another band I had been wanting to see for a very long time -- readers who have seen my "Best of" lists will know that their records consistently make it into consideration, but they never came to my neck of the woods (More...)
The Monday Set: Menomena – Los Angeles – 9/27/2012
Menomena kicked off their latest tour here in LA last week. I was curious to see just how their complex arrangements would translate into live performance -- especially since they're no longer a trio. They showed up with three touring band members and put on a hell of a show.
The Monday Set: X – Los Angeles – 1/28/2012
X The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA Los Angeles, CA 28 January 2012 It has been far, far too...
The Monday Set(s): Holy Ghost! – NYC – 2/2/11 & 4/1/11
I've been sitting on these Holy Ghost! shows for a while, but I figured it was time for me to get off my ass and post them. Since both of these sets are not full length I decided to bundle them into a single post (More...)
The Monday Set: Austra – New York City – 10/5/11
I recently discovered Austra when I came across the song "Lose It" and was immediately hooked. It's one of those handful of songs that hit me right in my musical G-spot. The whole song is perfectly written and I listened to it like 30 times in a row the day I first heard it (More..)
Men Without Hats – Living in China/WDTBG?/Safety Dance (Live)
I'm pretty sure I'm the only person in America who is actually a fan of Men Without Hats. Other than the enduring "Safety Dance" most people don't know any of their other songs, which is a shame, because they wrote some really good synth pop in the 80s (more...)
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