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NOV 11 - NOV 17
It's official: old is the nu-new. Downloads and burned CDs might prevent musicians from moving units like in years past, but in terms of prevailing sonic trends, we'd rather live in the outré movements of yesterday than in the moment. Post-punk acts like the Cure and Gang of Four get rapturous makeovers from young bands; hip hop heads are mic-checkin' old-school drum machines for beats and early-'90s lyrical EFX for flow; and in da club, chances are you'll go back to the future with some classic electro. Nostalgic flavor isn't just for seniors anymore — it's embedded in the collective pop-culture consciousness, so spread it. |
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Sharps Barber and Shop is the rally cry for young men who like to look
and feel good, but don't care to primp. The anti-groomers at Sharps
serve up high-tech shave gels, body washes, hair guck, and straight-edge
shaves that keep a growing roster of rockers, bankers, and hipsters
coming back for more. What's their secret? If we only knew.... |
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This week's flavor:
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| | An inspiring film from photographer and producer/director Richard Berman, Fire Within documents a month-long traveling workshop in the Middle East attended by 10 American Jews, 10 Palestinians, and 10 Israeli Jews — all teenagers. The conceptual, religious, political, and legal ground they cover in their discussions and interpersonal relationships is deeply inspiring and emotional. This film offers a hope for the Middle East that rises above the daily attacks that plague the region. (SND)
Note: Fire Within also screens on Thur 11.13 (5pm).
  
 Which basketball star did Richard Berman photograph for a Nestlé Crunch ad campaign? The first three correct answers each win a pair of tickets to this event.
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| | David Rees' brilliant comic strip Get Your War On emerged in the aftermath of 9/11 as one of the most resonant voices of protest against the Bush administration's potentially liberty-infringing policies. Now a regular contributor to Rolling Stone, Rees stops by Book Soup to read and sign copies of his latest underground classic, My New Fighting Technique Is Unstoppable. Rendered in line drawings, his clip-art office karate fighters cynically comment on a host of issues with equal parts wit, intelligence, irreverence, and obscenity. Chock-full of ironic, dark humor, Rees' simple insights elicit strong reactions, whether they leave readers in nervous laughter or a rage. (SN)
Which recent collection of post-9/11 essays was Rees anthologized in? The first two correct answers each win a copy of Rees' My New Fighting Technique Is Unstoppable.
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| | If the Wu-Tang Clan were but 10 years older, RZA could be hip hop's George Martin or, better yet, Joe Meek. With 1993's landmark Enter the Wu-Tang, RZA became hip hop's lone producer who employed a tone-deaf piano tuner — the dying, sour whine of a piano key his trademark device. Aside from his Wu-Tang and underrated Gravediggaz work, RZA has released a handful of misguided solo albums, though his stunning scores for kung-fu minded flicks Ghost Dog and Kill Bill Vol. 1 impress. Another eerie rap act, Das EFX, open. Unfortunately, the frightening power of their startling 1992 debut and its monster single, "They Want EFX," are long forgotten, but here's guessing they can make you remember. (YS)
Which Brit-pop band did RZA and Method Man collaborate with for a single? The first correct answer wins a pair of tickets to this event.
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| | Scottish architectural critic and designer Charles Jencks lectures from and signs copies of his new book, The Garden of Cosmic Speculation, which documents the project of the same name that has come to define his life's work. Something of a legend already, the garden in question occupies 30 acres in the Borders area of Scotland, where Jencks uses a new language of landscape design to investigate ideas about nature and civilization, designing vignettes that illustrate individual laws of the universe. (SND)
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| | If you visited New York's contemporary-art museum P.S.1 last year during its summer music series, you experienced William E. Massie's distinctive structures. For the museum's outdoor area, this idiosyncratically innovative architect created what he called the "Urban Beach": with its playful water sources, insistent color scheme, and the undulating surfaces corralling the public spaces, it was as much a witty installation and happening as it was architecture. Massie calls his approach "visual rhyming," or "riding the landscape," and to that end he creates an active dialogue between the building and its environment through surprising elements, be they curves, hues, or material. (MD)
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| | Straight outta Silverlake come Moving Units, the latest sensation to challenge the Rapture's status as post-post-punk's towering force. Actually, Moving Units are compadres with the Rapture, yet distinct enough to be their own thing, thanks to an adherence to simple, timeless melodies and singer/guitarist Blake Miller's vagabond wail. They ultimately may not move as many units as their punk-funk peers, but their sonic integrity remains intact. Live, the trio coalesces into a Molotov fury that feels like it could careen out of control at any moment — it's a thrilling ride down noise-rock's memory lane. (MD)
What label released Moving Units' self-titled debut EP? The second correct answer wins a pair of tickets to this event.
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| | One half of Pepe Deluxé, JA Jazz joins Transistor Lounge to throw down a sampling of the musical experimentation that makes this Finnish duo one of a kind. Their recent album, Beatitude, brims with an inconceivable range of influences — soulful grooves, electro rock, hip hop beats, classical piano, and a little Bollywood flavor mixed in for good measure. The result is a joyful mishmash of global proportions. Although the album brought together over 30 musicians from around the world, tonight JA Jazz goes back to his roots of turntables and samplers with a mix sure to be funky. (MG)
What's your favorite Finnish export? Our three favorite answers each win a pair of tickets to this event and a Pepe Deluxé T-shirt and CD.
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| | Spiritualized mastermind Jason Pierce is one of those strange and interesting characters you cannot help but admire and respect. Pierce forged Spiritualized from the ashes of his former group Spacemen 3, known for a feedback-heavy psychedelia one part Stooges, one part Jesus and Mary Chain. With Spiritualized, Pierce has refined his sound, discreetly using traces of rock, jazz, and electronica to an avant-garde effect, with enigmatic, religion- and drug-obsessed lyrics that keep even hardcore fans guessing. Spiritualized newcomers may think the band recalls old Portishead or new Godspeed You! Black Emperor, but it's really the other way around. (AB)
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| | Neil Michael Hagerty remains one of our most enduring oddball indie-rock icons, if only by sheer force of will. Hagerty's pedigree in the noise-rock pantheon remains peerless: he paired with Jon Spencer in '80s ironic art-shredders P*ssy Galore, and, in the late '80s, formed Royal Trux with partner Jennifer Herrema. Royal Trux filtered country feedback and bluesy, balls-out rock through a shambling haze that suggested early Sonic Youth jamming with Gram Parsons and Keith Richards. Upon Royal Trux's millennial demise, Hagerty struck out solo, releasing three albums in as many years, in addition to a novel, Victory Chimp, whose sprawl would even give Naked Lunch-era William Burroughs pause. (MD)
What's the name of Neil Michael Hagerty's band with two members of the Make-Up? The first two correct answers each win a pair of tickets to this event.
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| | At the rich old age of seven, Out Hud could count themselves as the elder statesmen of the electro/post-punk/disco revival movement. The New York-via-Sacramento outfit's sole LP, S.T.R.E.E.T. D.A.D., pristinely shimmers as cello and clean guitar upstrokes hover above frantic high-hat thwacks. Out Hud and post-funk compatriots !!! share members and ideologies, and the latter's recent "Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard (A True Story)" single combines the best aspects of each act into an epic six-plus minute jam. Out Hud's DJ sets, like the one tonight, open windows into both band's influences, including Liquid Liquid, Gang of Four, Fela Kuti, Missy Elliott, Tweet, and German minimal techno, among thousands of danceable others. (YS)
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| | They strum. They rock. They harmonize. They write deliciously eclectic pop songs, from dreamy ballads to Beatlesesque pop-rock. They are Irving, the hottest thing to come out of Eagle Rock, CA, ever. Bandmates share songwriting responsibilities, and each member of the quintet lends his voice, crowding the stage with microphones and songs packed with killer harmonies — enough ba-bas, la-las, and ooh-oohs to satisfy the staunchest '60s-style pop fan. This is music to fall in love to, and a band to fall in love with. Tra-la-la-la-la. (LB)
What's the best band named after a geographic location? Our two favorite answers each win a pair of tickets to this event.
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| | Nitin Sawhney's Prophesy (2001) album was a gorgeous palette of multiculturalism that challenged the assumption that technology is inherently positive for humankind. Not that Sawhney advocates complete abstinence from it: modern technology plays an essential role in his seamless blend of Indian, African, and Middle Eastern sounds with beats of Western origin. It's just that this founding voice from the Asian Underground movement uses his aural vision to disseminate post-rave P.L.U.R. consciousness into the musical vernacular. Lest there be any confusion about Sawhney's objectives, his new album bears the title Human, and tabla players add that element to his performances in this swing through California. (JSS)
Nitin Sawhney's Prophesy challenged technology's rep as a positive force on mankind. Support his claim with your own righteous technophobic thoughts. The two most creative answers each win a pair of tickets to this event.
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| | After a brief hiatus, the creators of LA's happening Echo is Electro and Fidelity parties are back with more dirty, sexy turntable madness. Headlining Plastique is DJ Unknown, who brings a little humor to the genre with a paper bag on his head and fabulous glam glasses. DJ Unknown connected with Fischerspooner about three years ago, and has been their warm-up/after-party DJ ever since. He's also opened for the Buzzcocks, performed with DJ Hell and Miss Kittin, and dropped his own science at the Beastie Boys DVD release party. James F*cking Friedman is also in town from NYC to stir it up. Expect sexy outfits, a throbbing mix of the best of electro circa yesterday and today, and some serious dancing. (SN)
Who could DJ Unknown be? The three funniest answers each win a pair of tickets to this event.
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| | Yes, it's the same Ed Templeton of the acclaimed Toy Machine skateboard-design company, but don't underestimate the power of this hugely talented pro skateboarder's art. The exhibition is the first US showing of this body of work after an acclaimed European tour. With this project, Templeton powerfully continues his subversive documentation and dramatization of the inner lives of skatepunks from around the globe: they're angst-ridden, searching for a way to express themselves, and suspicious of middle-class complacency. Sound familiar? (SND)
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| | The spirit of Fela Kuti and Afrobeat lives on, thanks in part to the Brooklyn-based Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, whose incessant touring schedule has helped cement their reputation as a one-of-a-kind world jam band. While the Knitting Factory can be a tad somnolent, Antibalas' potpourri of musical styles — old-school soul, funk, jazz, and world rhythms — and stellar horn and percussion sections should resuscitate any dead wood on the dancefloor. (SE)
What country was Fela Kuti from? The first four correct answers each win a pair of tickets to either show.
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| | Led by artistic director Tim Robbins, the Actors' Gang has continually proved itself to be one of the finest repertory theatre companies in LA. Using the theatre as a platform for community dialogue, the company strives to present engaging and socially relevant theatre. Billed as "a raucous commentary about the journalists, politicians and media frenzy surrounding a modern day war," Embedded, written and directed by Robbins, promises to be a provocative experience. (ASM)
Note: Embedded runs through Sun 12.21.
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| | The Rapture's 21st-century interpretation of Gang of Four proves far more intriguing than that of their likeminded peers. On their recent major-label debut, Echoes, the quintet transcends GoF's influence, as well as the Cure's, thanks to vocalist Luke Jenner's harrowed inflections and an assortment of disco-minded electronic beats. Courtesy of NYC producers du jour DFA, Echoes veers towards sublime ecstasy. Emphasis on "ecstasy" — the Rapture's acid-house atmosphere and standout songwriting pair to create the best club-rock hybrid since the early-'90s Madchester scene. (DRY)
Note: Out Hud and Beans open both nights.
Which Psychedelic Furs song did the Rapture cover on an early 7" record? The first ten correct answers each win a pair of tickets to the Sun 11.16 performance.
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DJ
Hrvatski w/ Nautilis, and Machine Drum
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| when: | Sun 11.16 (10pm-2am) |
| where: | Sugar (814 Broadway, Santa Monica, 310.899.1989) |
| price: | $10 |
| links: |
Event Info |
| | Once a month, Negative Space gathers pioneering experimental musicians and masterful visual manipulators for an inspiring live electronic media experience. Set against the ambience of Club Sugar with its giant fishtanks and fresh lighting, Negative Space is part IDM, part ambient, part in-your-face hardcore. A true local gem, this tech lounge bursts with fresh ideas, a regular sonic bazaar where the boundary pushers of Southern California can come together, get inspired, and get their geek on. This latest installment features the funky electro-tweaking of Machine Drum, along with live sets by Hrvatski and Nautilis of Planet Mu records, run by µ-Ziq's Mike Paradinas. Tune in, turn on, glitch out. (SN)
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| | Lucinda Williams' singer-songwriter style has been compared to Bob Dylan and Townes Van Zandt, but her distinctive voice is a musical instrument all its own. Williams deals in truth, singing about the darker side of things while appreciating the light. Recently releasing two albums in two years after having as many record labels as records, Williams attributes the success of Essence and World Without Tears to playing songs on the road before going into the studio, so the material is appropriately lived-in for the stage. This on-again, off-again LA resident (and veteran employee of Moby Disc in Sherman Oaks) has simpatico support tonight, as ace LA country/folk-rock Eastmountainsouth open the proceedings. (NL)
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| | Junior Senior provide irresistible pop-cultured tunes heavy on jangle, groove, and humor, like their is-it-Justin-Timberlake-or-is-it-Memorex? hit "Move Your Feet." In an exuberant blast of a live show, this Danish duo live up to the title of their debut album, D-D-Don't Stop the Beat. Supported by a full band, including backup singers and a bass player named Flip, Junior Senior pump out dance pop that's well-informed and gleefully unaware of itself. (JB)
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| | Before late director Krzysztof Kieslowski made art-house hits like The Double Life of Veronique and the "Three Colors" trilogy, he created his 1988 masterpiece, The Decalogue — ten short films that each meditated on one of the Ten Commandments against the backdrop of a dreary, Cold War-era Warsaw housing complex. Originally commissioned for Polish TV, the series occasionally makes its way back into theaters thanks to an enthusiastic underground following. The American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre continues its bang-up job with this five-night engagement of the late director's greatest achievement. (SE)
What should the 11th commandment be? The two best answers each win a pair of tickets to see all screenings of The Decalogue.
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| | The oil paintings in Chad Robertson's latest exhibition, In The Moment, evoke both the epic and ephemeral. Mural-sized images of nudes in supermarket aisles express both idealization of and contempt for the culture of mass-consumption. An otherworldly light floods the picture planes, giving the product packages a dreamy, diaphanous quality while wrapping itself gently around the hefty sensuality of the figures. The show also features a series of portraits of children: while depicted with the same divine light of the other paintings, Robertson imbues these works with more intense color and his stylistic signature — a sort of double exposure technique in which he renders the subject's face as seen at two or more different moments. This approach elicits gasps from viewers as it allows Robertson to convey a multiplicity of emotional and physical movement within the confines of a two-dimensional medium. (SND)
Which Don Delillo novel in part examines the culture of supermarkets and their effects on children? The first correct answer wins a Six Space T-shirt.
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| | After the much-touted October unveiling of his Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown LA, Frank O. Gehry is undoubtedly the face du jour of modern architecture. To celebrate this enormous achievement by one of the world's greatest living architects, the Museum of Contemporary Art is displaying his sketches, photographs, sample materials, and models from 12 current and recent projects, including the acclaimed Guggenheim Museum Bilboa in Spain and the highly ambitious Simon Wiesenthal Center for Human Dignity in Jerusalem. It's a fitting salute to a hometown hero. (SE)
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| CD REVIEW: Project Blowed Presents the Good Brothers |
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Deconstruction
Released October 2003
$17.98 (Amazon)
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Judging from the syndicate of MCs and producers that appear on this second Project Blowed release, West Coast hip hop is alive and well. Pulling together as disparate a group of participants as you can imagine, executive producer Aceyalone is the glue that makes the project stick. He corrals this dirty three-dozen without crowding any of them, despite appearing on every track. Standouts include Awol One's monotone delivery on the electro-pop "She Dances Wicked," silky latin production by Boss Beats and Fat Jack on "Good, |
Bad, Ugly" and "Lolita," dancehall from Jah Orah and Riddlore on "Come Unity," and a foray into big-beat lyricism on "Superstar." Better-known guests include Hieroglyphics' Pep Love and Def Jux' Rjd2, who produces "Rock with Us," but the real treat comes in hearing the earnest sentiments of a thriving group of un-famous rappers. (NP)
Aceyalone is a member of what groundbreaking crew, along with Mikah 9, P.E.A.C.E., and Self-Jupiter? First correct answer wins a copy of this CD.
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| DEADLINE: National Novel Writing Month |
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In a charmingly manic call to action, National Novel Writing Month encourages quantity over quality in an ambitious appeal to procrastinating novelists of all ilks. The challenge: to write a novel of 50,000 words in a month. 2002's version of the event attracted over 14,000 participants. The phenomenon of taking this classically daunting endeavor on with a group of thousands of strangers via the organization's website makes the personal world of "what if" oddly public. LA has a very active group on the site, and for those who need a proverbial kick in the pants to start writing the book of their dreams, this is it. (JF)
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| STREAMS: dublab |
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Have you ever fallen in love with the sun, been hypnotized by blades of grass, or mesmerized by molecules? Nature has a way of wooing us that nothing can touch. When you feel wound up and stressed out you merely have to hike amongst its trees to feel relieved. After you've breathed in some outdoor freshness come home and connect to dublab. Music is part of the universal pulse, and dublab's sublime soundwaves will help you stay on beat. (Frosty)
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| CREDITS |
| Header Design: |
| Slap bracelets | Lyall Coburn | | |
| Staff: |
| Hip house | Matt Diehl | | Fat laces | Sascha Lewis | | Neo-Expressionism | Mark Mangan | | Reebok Pumps | Nick Parish | | |
ABOUT US
flavorpill LA is a free weekly mailer covering music, arts, and cultural events in Los Angeles. All listings are pure editorial, researched and written based on what we think has flavor. No money is accepted from venues, artists, or promoters. As always, feel free to send in any and all feedback — comments, questions, ideas, or rants. Spread the flavor...
EVENT SUBMISSIONS
Please send all interesting event information (press releases, links, etc.) to events. |
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| Contributors: |
| Skidz | Jen Bachman | | Op art | Paul Laster | | Hypercolor T-shirts | Jay Belin | | Coonskin caps | Jocelyn K. Glei | | Tie dye | Christopher Hampton | | Pillbox hats | Emily A. Welsch | | The Zoot Suit | Shana Nys Dambrot | | Cabbage Patch Dolls | Lisa Rosman | | Swatches | Yancey Strickler | | Ouija Boards | Elizabeth L. McDonald | | Sea Monkeys | Sander-Martijn Milks | | Boomerangs | Anjuli Ayer | | Waterbeds | Frosty | | Putt-putt | Carly F. Miller | | Skinny ties | Jonathan Heit | | UFO sightings | Angi Brzycki |
| Dance marathons | Nicole Levine | | Alf | David Morrow | | Members Only jackets | Steve Nalepa | | Flappers | Suzanne Ely | | Parachute pants | Marisa Lowenstein | | Velcro | Menaka Gopinath | | Reverb | Amanda M | | The Pet Rock | Jeff S. Safran | | Troop jackets | Jennifer Fader | | Druidism | Allen Moon |
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WRITERS & DESIGNERS WANTED
We are always looking for new writers to contribute to flavorpill. If you tuned into what's happening in LA and are interested in writing about it, please email us at writer.
If you would like to do a header design for flavorpill, please send any questions or submissions to design. |
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