APRIL 29 - MAY 5
If you have some extra lazy hours this week, you can always trek to the beach, as there's
nothing like the wide open Pacific to sort you out. Or if you're feeling less lazy, you can also head inland, on the flavor tip, until you find an interactive walking tour of downtown LA, a stage interpretation of a Kubrick classic, Cat Power confessions, or the depths of deep house. Whatever you choose, just don't forget a plan B. Spread it...
When this vanilla erupts, escape is futile. So hurl
yourself into a Vanilia Volcano. Get recipes and video mixing lessons on absolut.com.
Her songs are like intimate love letters, laden with poetic confessions, but not signed. Since 1992 Chan Marshall of Cat Power has been writing and performing music with a sound and voice to which we have little to compare. Her latest album, You Are Free, is beautifully crafted, and both raw and tumultuous — much like the singer herself. Watching her perform is akin to watching someone unravel in front you without ever really glimpsing what is underneath. There is a struggle, fragility and fear as the artist comes alive on stage and you never know what she might do next. Her music is refreshingly real, free of the clichés and the musical rhetoric that saturates so many of her contemporaries. (KK)
After a decade of lo-fi gems full of whimsical lyrics and biting non sequiturs, Pavement broke up a few years ago to the dismay of thousands of indie rockers around the world. Now Stephen Malkmus is back with his second album, on which he properly credits his band the Jicks. Pig Lib sees the indie icon losing some of his usual drollness to deliver possibly his most earnest album to date. On it, SM and the Jicks explore more traditional rock song structures, and in the process they discover themselves as a proper band. (CM)
Close your eyes, and envision Rio de Janeiro: paradisical beaches covered with bronzed bodies and humming with infectious rhythms in the distance. Now open your eyes, and look again. City of God, perhaps the most celebrated film to come out of Brazil in the last 20 years, takes you to the heart of Rio's ghettos, to a parallel universe of poverty, gang warfare, drug dealing, and extreme violence. This beautifully shot film captures the vitality of the human spirit and the creativity of the Brazilian mind while exposing the by-products of immense socioeconomic inequality. The second film in the evening's double feature is Hector Babenco's Pixote (1981), which recounts the harrowing tale of a 10-year-old runaway cut loose in the back alleys of Brazil after learning a harsh lesson about life in a Sao Paolo reform school. (DS & BP)
Note: These films also play Thur 5.1 - Sat 5.3.
(times)
Please your parents and impress your friends by chilling at George Sarah's CD release party for Ossia, released by local label Transistor Recordings, part of the Wednesday night Transistor Lounge party series at Nacional. The electronic composer infuses a touch of sophistication into the typical DJ set by performing alongside a string trio, creating an ambient blend of trip hop and classical music. The tracks on Ossia, currently hot on KCRW, come from his original compositions for Plastic Surgery Before and After, a Discovery Health Network show. (GN)
Note: The first 50 paying customers receive a free copy of the rhinoplasty-inspired CD.
The first five people to tell us what rhinoplasty means in plain English will win a
pair of comp'd spots to this event and a copy of George Sarah's Ossia.
Chris Burden is an enormously influential
conceptual artist who began exhibiting in 1971.
He received instant fame that year with a
performance piece called "Shoot" in which a
friend, at his request, shot him in the arm. In
1974 he had himself crucified on top of a
Volkswagen Beetle. His latest work is a sculpture
pretending to be a house that's posing as a skyscraper.
Burden found a loophole in the local building codes
which enables small outdoor enclosures to
be built without permits, as long as they remain
less that 400 square feet and no higher than 35 feet.
Small Skyscraper is designed within these
parameters to advance the rules of the game, while
presenting clever architectural folly. (SN)
Note: The exhibition runs through 7.27 (Wed-Sun: 12-6pm).
It's not called the boob tube for nothing — or is it? Hash out the ongoing debate over television's value as a vehicle for art and culture, as media arts advocacy collective LA Freewaves rolls out another welcome panel discussion for their TV or Not TV lecture series. This installment, dubbed "What's LA's Cultural Role in Globalized Economy?" continues to weigh the pros and cons of using television as a messenger of the arts. A panel of filmmakers, academics, and film and video curators, as well as a discerning audience, help you decide whether "Kill Your Television" is an apt mantra for patrons of the arts. (JF)
Singer-songwriter Chris Whitley has proved that blues music isn't a thing of the past. He and his guitar have been together for quite some time, and the recent release of his eighth album, Hotel Vast Horizon, indicates there aren't any signs of breaking up in the near future — Whitley has even decided to add a bass player to tour with his band. He is famous for his tragic, poetic vocals that draw in even the skeptics, and his lyrics expose his inner secrets without compromising his composure. A self-taught guitar player who started out as a street musician, over the years Whitley has performed and recorded with some serious talent, including the experimental jazz musicians Billy Martin and Chris Wood of MMW. (AB)
If he were a car, he'd be an old pickup heading along a dirt road. If he were accessories for a night out, he'd be an aged bottle of whiskey and a corncob pipe. Vic Chestnutt is about as poetic as a performer comes, with a guitar a strummin', a grainy voice a hummin', and lyrics that give it to you straight. The recent release of Silver Lake soothed both critics and fans, further confirming his role as one of the great songwriters of our time. Chestnutt comes with stories, a candid presence, and melodic guitar tunes that feel just right. Soulful blues-folk-rock musician M. Ward, who has often been compared to Tom Waits and Granddaddy, opens for Vic. Between the two, it might feel like you are on the porch, sitting in a rocking chair with a big sky overhead, listening to how the world could be. (KK)
Hollywood Athletic Club (6525 Sunset Blvd, Hollywood, 213.962.6600)
price:
FREE before 10pm / $10
Cursing the clouds? Pining for the sun-kissed decadence of the recent Miami music conference? The crews come correct with Florida's top export after oranges: pure Miami bass. This party features Salim Rafiq, aka DJ Wreck, representing Fuel and Schematic — two labels known for bass mayhem and rhythmic ridiculousness. Rafiq's hallmark is a dank electro-breaks sound, dirtied up with fidgety glitchwork, like sandpaper made sexy. Come early to catch elm artists Ben Milstein performing live, and TLSmith and Miss Sariah Storm DJing. Limber up and get ready to be broken. (PS)
Zanzibar (1305 5th St, Santa Monica, 310.451.2221)
price:
$20
Sit back. Relax. Slowly sip your perfectly chilled cocktail as P'taah's fusion of progressive beats, sensual vocals, and laid-back ambient soundscapes wash over you. Let the futuristic jazz fill you with organic grooves, the kind that move you to move. Friday night producer Chris Brann, previously of Wamdue and Ananda Project, shares his latest musical exploration, P'taah's sophomore release, Staring At The Sun. Experience the truth of Brann's latest revelation — that when dance and jazz influences mix in the absence of stylistic restriction, only beauty remains. (ES)
The two people who forward this listing to the
most people will win a pair of tickets to this show. The runner-up will win a copy of
P'taah's CD, Staring at the Sun.
Ever walk around Venice admiring the array of groovy fences and glimpses of lush landscapes, and wonder what's behind there? This famous walking tour gives visitors entrée to the secret gardens hidden behind cast iron gates, alongside high bamboo and bougainvillea and jasmine-lined walkways. On display are bizarre and wonderful plant life as well as examples of what makes this neighborhood's expressive architecture world-famous. How funky can it get? Well, this is the town that was founded in 1905 by the progressive thinker, entrepreneur and developer Abbot Kinney. Kinney wanted to recreate the canals of that other Venice on a stretch of desert coastline. (SND)
Note: Funds benefit the Neighborhood Youth Associations' Las Doradas Children's Center in Venice.
In a sophisticated venue with an underground feel, where the music is of the deep persuasion and the people have their eyes set firmly on the dance floor, veteran promoter Sue Dred brings you Balance Saturdays — a weekly party featuring world-class DJ talent, a fun-loving crowd, and a strictly house vibe. A sure bet for house heads and club kids alike, tonight Balance welcomes the Ovum Records Tour featuring Philly's prolific Pete Moss and LA's hometown hero David Alvarado. The sound runs the gamut from straight-up house to deep, tribal, and tech-y, so if you've been meaning to brush up on your dance music, here's your chance to do it in style. (AM)
The second and fifth person to tell us which well-respected Ovum artist started off his DJ career with the Digable Planets will win a pair of comp'd spots to this event.
Artists Jeremy Hight, Jeff Knowlton, and Naomi Spellman have harnessed the latest in technology wizardry to create an interactive walking tour of downtown Los Angeles. Travelers wear headphones and carry a tablet PC that interacts with a Global Positioning System to track your movements, and also plays personal accounts and site-specific stories that bring the city and its colorful history to life. This is real-time multimedia, a fusion of past and present — a chance to walk through both space and time. (ES)
Note: Event takes place every Sun (2-5pm) or by appointment. Tours are cancelled in the event of rain.
Experience an evening of pure, auditory bliss at the legendary nightclub Deep, brought to you by the Godfather of the West Coast House movement himself, Marques Wyatt. Often referred to as "church" by the serious heads, this weekly Sunday night escape offers a family-like vibe and a fantastically diverse crowd united solely by their love of the music. Get in touch with your spiritual side tonight as Deep presents veteran crowd-pleaser Frankie Feliciano of NYC and resident DJ Marques Wyatt bringing you deep, soulful house at it's finest. (AM)
The fourth person to tell us what Master at Work DJ first inspired Frankie Feliciano to play house music wins a pair of comp'd spots to this
event.
Grab a Corona or a Dos Equis at the bar to toast Puebla's liberation (on Cinco de Mayo) while enjoying what the Postal Service has to offer. These clever indie rockers take their name from how they formed — initially, Death Cab for Cutie bandmember Benjamin Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel exchanged lyrics and music beds by post between Seattle and LA. Though they're noted for an '80s-style pop sound, they are no one-hit wonder. Rather, the Postal Service unleash great lyrics and melodies throughout their range of songs. (AB)
What is the strangest thing that you have gotten in the mail? The best three answers will win tickets to this show.
Don't expect badly dubbed martial artists or opiated dragon ladies at this Asian film festival. For more than 30 years, Visual Communications (VC), the premier Asian-Pacific media arts center in the United States, has been breeding Asian Pacific creative types that eschew tired stereotypes. VC's annual pageant of film and video talent, VC Film Fest, now in its 19th year, features over 100 films, videos, and shorts from America and the Asia-Pacific rim that are guaranteed to make you think differently about people of Asian descent. This eight-day festival kicks off with Canadian director Mina Shum's LA premiere of Sundance Festival entry Long Life, Happiness, and Prosperity and wraps up with Fifth Generation filmmaker Chen Kaige's Together. (KCK)
The first five people to tell us what famous Chinese actress starred in Farewell My Concubine will win a package of passes to selected films throughout the festival.
Leon Golub is arguably one of America's most important modern painters, yet he hasn't shown in a gallery in Los Angeles since 1995. This show focuses on his works on paper, as well as new paintings and mixed media work. His particular style of expressive line drawing, vibrant color, and distressed surfaces has been lauded internationally for its subtlety and power. But while his large-scale portraits often display violence and puissance, these works reveal a more intimate, fragmentary quality — speaking to a time of personal reckoning in society. Some of this may prove a little heavy, but it's not to be missed. (SND)
Jo Jackson makes crisp, bright, lovely little paintings that embrace psychosexual imagery, eroticism, death, fear, and violence in the service of larger ideas. With the almost saccharine sweetness of her pinks, blues, and yellows, she undermines political hypocrisy — the prettiness of her work indicts complacent commercial interests, and its almost blasé attitude toward transgressive behavior speaks to personal responsibility in the sustenance of social structures. At the same time, this conceptually rich work can be enjoyed thoroughly on a strictly eye-candy basis, if that's your thing, for she has a truly unique instinct for color and a tendency toward slick, sexy, finish-fetish surfaces. (SND)
Note: Young SF artist Christopher Garrett's work is also featured in the project room.
Sixteen years after the release of Stanley Kubrick's film version, Anthony Burgess adapted his classic novel for the stage. One notable difference is the inclusion of his originally unpublished final chapter, which allows for the possibility of redemption in Alex. He also devises a musical text to depict the surreal environment of the story and delve further into the mind of his memorable protagonist. The result is a carnivalistic delight, and the portrayal of Alex by Seamus Dever is a glorious live horror show. Rick Sparks directs with a tremor portending the evil residing in each level of society. Go viddy this adaptation soon all you malchicks and devotchkas. "What's it going to be then, eh?" (DM)
On this new release, Ben Harper cycles through a variety of sounds and styles — no surprise from someone who has opened for groups as wide-ranging as the Dave Matthews band, Radiohead, and the Fugees. From the reggae groove that drives "My Own Two Hands" to songs cast as bluesy funk, fuzz, or riff rock, to the field holler of "When It's Good" (which features a box of rocks as percussive accompaniment), the music is bound together by Harper's slinky guitar playing (on his trusty Weissenborn as well as his electric) and especially by his achingly
expressive voice. Unspooling songs about love and redemption, the album showcases imaginative arrangements that include Greg Leisz' pedal steel, Ladysmith Black Mambazo's vocal swell, and a string quartet and accordion that turn "When She Believes" into a stately ballad. Harper's decision to draw on so many styles demonstrates that he hasn't been bound by the prevailing winds in the fickle music business. (PS)
The fifth person to tell what kind of wood was used to make Weissenborn guitars will win a copy of Diamonds on the Inside.
BOOKS: Hennessy + Ingalls
The oldest establishment on Santa Monica's 3rd Street Promenade, Hennessy + Ingalls is a browser's paradise, featuring more than 50,000 titles — an extraordinary selection of international titles on architecture, fine art, graphic design, photography, artist monographs, and more. Check them out in their current location soon, as Hennessey + Ingalls is moving to new space in the summer of 2003, just a block away on Wilshire Boulevard. (SN)
STREAMS: dublab
dublab is a travel agency to the rich and famous. Come jetset in class with
the Labrats. Your trip will start in the luxurious cabin of a private
bi-plane. No high security here. Just old fashioned hootin' and
hollerin'. Hell, you can fly the bucket yourself. Next you will arrive in
sunny Rio de Janeiro, Ohio (cattle feed capital of the Midwest). Swim with
the stars and stripes at the Moonlight Motel pool. No diving! Dine by
candelabra at the Royal Tuxedo Buffet. After shoveling in the good
eatin', retire to the Mocklob Bay Cocktail lounge in the lovely, landlocked
Ripple River Strip Mall. Your ticket is free. Just click on the dublab
streams and dream away.
the honeymoon suite: dubstream (dublab crew + Autechre)
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...
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Contributors:
Beer cozy
Jay Belin
Banana rack
Christopher Hampton
Les Crabes
Steve Nalepa
Jellyfish
Shana Nys Dambrot
Mollusks
Regan Kibbee/QofV
Undertow
Zach Beebee
Chum
Lisa Jenkins
Trashy novels
Kay C. Kim
Speedo
Jonathan Heit
Skipping stone
Sander-Martijn Milks
Jetsam
Brock Phillips
Driftwood
Joe Jarrell
Skimboard
Lisa Rosman
Seashells
Angi Brzycki
Sandy shorts
Daniel Murray
Hermit crabs
Jennifer Fader
Mermaid
Sarah Chambliss
Coconut
William Beard
Flotsam
David Hayden Schwarz
Bonfire
David Morrow
Paddleball
Philip Sherburne
Starfish
Celeste Moure
Bungalow
Eve Smilack
Rollerblader
Gena Nason
SPF 45
PK
Bucket
Kristin Keifer
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