Jun 17, 2010 Live

I am not, by nature, a V.I.P. Heck, some days I can barely manage being a “P.” So, when Dangerbird Records invited Under the Radar to come check out Delphic’s first Los Angeles show at their office headquarters, I couldn’t help but be pleased. When I found out there was going to be Cool Haus ice cream, pleased was upgraded to ecstatic, as I had to resist the urge to propose marriage. To anyone and everyone, really. And to think, I hadn’t even gotten to the music yet. More

Jun 04, 2010 Live Web Exclusive

Thousands of North Westerners packed the normally barren fields of George, WA with bare-bones camping gear and their most exotic festival apparel to witness the epic line-up of Sasquatch! 2010. The list was stacked, and showed why the festival had already sold out by early spring with performances by Mumford and Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, and  Vampire Weekend among others. More

May 30, 2010 Live

Amanda Palmer is a source of relentless energy who bends the laws of cabaret (and often, life) to her twisted bidding, be it alone, with The Dresden Dolls, or with her new project, presenting and "producing" the debut album of conjoined twins, Evelyn Evelyn. (Really Palmer and pal Jason Webley in a dress built for two and dubious wigs, but I'm willing to suspend my disbelief if you are.) Their stage show, which stopped in Los Angeles for a three night run at the appropriately old-Hollywood Largo at the Coronet, was heavy on the theatrics, and even heavier on camp. Cynics, you have been warned. More

May 26, 2010 Live

It is interesting to note that my Moleskin notebook's resonance is exactly the same as Shout Out Louds' "Hard Rain." Of course it seems like this tour might be teaching the Shout Out Louds a few things about emotional resonance. While Friday night's crowd reacted politely to their impeccable renditions of middling material from newest album Work, it was really favorites from Our Ill Wills and debut Howl Howl Gaff Gaff that really caused audience-wide oscillations. More

May 21, 2010 Live Web Exclusive

Although Broken Bells' Wednesday night performance at the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood was only the second show of its first tour, the sold-out concert was the band's third headlining club gig in Los Angeles since February. More

May 07, 2010 Live Web Exclusive

Let's Wrestle is an appropriate moniker for an act seemingly in thrall to the '90s indie shambles and dissonance of the likes of Dinosaur Jr. and Pavement, their instrumental parts and personalities clashing like battering rams. Bassist Mike Lightning played in a punchy, surging Lou Barlow-esque style while frontman Wesley Patrick Gonzalez sounded as quixotically dazed as Stephen Malkmus circa Crooked Rain in his flat, laconic intonations. More

May 05, 2010 Live Web Exclusive

I harbor a not-so-secret fantasy that one day, after moving to Toronto, Kevin Drew will ask me to play the triangle in Broken Social Scene. Despite my crippling lack of musical talent, the band's high-energy set at The Henry Fonda Theater did nothing to dissuade my delusions. More

May 04, 2010 Live

To most of the U.S. music buying populace, Australia's The Church were little more than a one hit wonder, defined by the unassuming brilliance of their 1988 hit "Under the Milky Way." But the truth of the matter is that The Church's artistic reach extended years before and long after their time in the limelight. The band withstood their short period of fame and have survived to build a catalog of quality songs unrivaled by most of their '80s peers. More

Apr 29, 2010 Live Web Exclusive

Long Beach foursome Avi Buffalo played a 30-minute live in-store at stalwart local indie shop Fingerprints on Monday night, the eve of the release of the band's eponymous debut record. Friends, family, and fans gathered to see the band perform seven of the 10 songs from its eponymous Sub-Pop LP. More