Help LA Font and Torches Record And Release New Albums

Want to do a good deed in 2012?  Or, rather, two good deeds?  Then consider hitting the following: local hotshots LA Font and Torches (formerly Torches in Trees) are gathering the funds necessary to record and release new full length records.  As two rising forces in la la land indie rock, LA Font and Torches are two bands whose music deserves the wider audience that a pair of excellent LPs could garner.

And to make things easier for you to chip in, both bands have started digital fundraisers to make sure these albums happen.

You can hit up LA Font and donate to the cause here, at their Kickstarter page.  Or, as they put it:

For most of 2011, we were writing a full-length album. We think it’s going to be something really special and we can’t wait to get it recorded. To do that, we drafted an awesome producer – Eric Palmquist, who just did amazing recordings of two of L.A.’s best bands, Wavves and Fool’s Gold. He loves our music, and wants to record it at one of the eastside’s best recording studios: Infrasonic Sound.

Our problem is, making a new record and getting it out there is going to be really expensive. It takes a team of professional engineers a long time to record, mix and master a 40-minute album. Then there’s the costs of equipment and 10 days in a world-class studio. All together, putting this record out is going to cost us well more than $10,000.

The band is currently within $1,200 of their goal.  Help them out, won’t you (plus you’ll get a bunch of free swag for donating).

Elsewhere, WiF favorites Torches are looking to finish and release their debut LP, Heads Full of Rust, an endeavor that will set them back by $2,700, which, believe me, would be well worth it–this band is stellar.  Make a donation to their Indie GoGo page (and ditto the free swag!).

So contribute to one, or both–your ears will thank you, and the local scene will grow that much stronger.

January 25, 2012 | Filed Under Music News | Leave a Comment  |

Concert Review: Pisces live at Hotel Cafe (1.10.12)

Photo Credit: Zoe Ruth

I’ve said before that the dichotomous split between Sarah Negahdari’s two musical incarnations—the redlined pop bloodletting of the Happy Hollows and the alternately spooky/lovely oddball psych-folk of her “solo” band, the newly christened Pisces (f/k/a The Sad Solids)—is like a rampaging bear and the yawning open cave from which it came, respectively.  Sure, the bear gets all the attention (eating all of those innocent campers and all), but there’s something about that cave, a little unsettling, a little haunting, but still mysterious and kind of intriguing all the same.  Negahdari’s solo work is like that cave and, for what feels like the first time, her show at Hotel Café last week was the first complete, flood-lit glimpse into just how expansive and deep that cave runs.

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January 19, 2012 | Filed Under Concert Reviews | Leave a Comment  |

New Video: “Paint a Rocket” – Pisces

The clip for the latest tune by Pisces (the psych-folk solo project of the Happy Hollows’ Sarah Negahdari), “Paint a Rocket” is typically oddball, dreamy, and hyper-catchy stuff from the seemingly always-reliable Negahdari.  Pisces’ debut EP will hit later this year; until then, make due with a life appearance next week at Hotel Cafe:

 

January 6, 2012 | Filed Under New Music Preview, New Videos | Leave a Comment  |

New Tune: “These United States” – Seasons

seasons

Photo credit: Sterling Andrews

Hop in the wayback machine to February 2011, and you’ll find a Web in Front post dedicated to a lovely little celestial jam called “These United States” by local hotshots Seasons.  Well, nearly a year later, that slice of dazzling pop has finally found a home–the band’s new EP, Autumn.  The band is celebrating the EP’s release with a month-long Monday night residency at the Echo (which is free, of course)–and Web in Front is presenting next Monday’s show, which will feature support from Tenlons Fort, Judson McKinney and Kind Hearts and Coronets.  Also, Seasons will be performing their Winter EP in its entirety (dig our Winter review here).

In the meantime, give “These United States” a listen.  Propelled by an insistent, almost Paisley Underground-styled swirl of dreamy guitars, hyper-catchy melodies, and lovely viola/ violin contributions from Big Whup’s Morgan Gee, it’s a slice of pure ear candy.  See you on Monday.

Listen to “These United States”

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January 5, 2012 | Filed Under Featured Media, New Tunes | Leave a Comment  |

Mixtape #78: “It’s Monday Night, It’s Free”

Every week, Web in Front will be offering up a digital mixtape, comprised of whatever happens to be floating through my head and ears at the time–great local music (including exclusive unreleased tracks from our Featured Artist Interviews), old favorites and oddball obscurities; also featured will be mixes made by some of our favorite Los Angeles musicians, along with the stories and explanations behind their picks.

Another new year, another new batch of mixtapes.  Today’s mix is a heady batch of (mostly) new tunes, from the chiming art-pop of San Diego’s TV Girl to the celestial-rock-meets-lounge-lizard-sprawl of Seasons’ love letter to L.A. residencies (be sure to catch the second night of Seasons’ Echo residency next Monday), from the new glitchy funk jam by Fol Chen to two lovely new slivers of rock ‘n folk by Olin and the Moon and The Lumineers (who you can see this Friday at Hotel Cafe–highly recommended), respectively.  Along the way, you’ll find some older gems by the Stones, Beck, Jacques Dutronc, Strand of Oaks, and more.  Catchy stuff, kids.  Tracklisting and song info after the jump.

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January 4, 2012 | Filed Under Featured Media, Mixtapes | 3 Comments  |

Free Ticket Giveaway: The Henry Clay People live at The Satellite (New Year’s Eve)

NEW YEAR’S EVE 2011/12 at The Satellite from vbkid on Vimeo.

It’s no exaggeration when I say that the Henry Clay People are, quite simply, my favorite rock ‘n roll band in Los Angeles.  It’s also no exaggeration when I say that their annual NYE show is the local set that I look forward to the most every year.  Seeing my favorite local band at my favorite local venue in one of my favorite neighborhoods in Los Angeles for New Year’s is just about as good as it gets and, if you’re reading this site, it’s likely you feel the same way.  With that in mind, we’d like to offer up an early Christmas present: two free pairs of tix to see the Henry Clay People live at The Satellite on New Year’s Eve.  Joined by Races, LA Font, Jillinda Palmer, Joe Napolitano, and Paulie Pesh, HCP are set to ring in the new year with style/rock ‘n roll heart with a mix of original tunes and their inimitable covers (let’s just say that fans of Prince, Pulp, the Beatles, New Order, the Cure, REM, Rancid, the Sex Pistols and Bryan Adams have something to be excited about).

Interested in winning the tix?  Simply hit me up on Twitter with your favorite HCP song, and I’ll select the winners at random next Wednesday.  See you there.

December 23, 2011 | Filed Under Music News | Leave a Comment  |

Tonight: Artists in Aid @ Grand Star Bar

Hey, kids–before you abandon the good ship Los Angeles for the holidaze and head back to wherever it is that we all came from before transplanting ourselves to La La Land, be sure to do a good deed tonight, and hit up an Artists in Aid benefit show tonight.  Put together by Just An Animal’s Harley Prechtel-Cortez, tonight’s show will feature sets from Prechtel-Cortez, as well as sets by members of Shadow Shadow Shade, Rademacher, Dusty Rhodes, Bixby Knolls, and more (keep your eyes and ears open for some special guests).

It’s all to benefit the HHCLA (Homeless Health Care Los Angeles).  Translation: If you’re still in L.A., this is the place to be tonight.  You can make a donation (either monetary or canned food).  Grand Star Bar in Chinatown.  Be there!

December 22, 2011 | Filed Under Music News | Leave a Comment  |

Web in Front’s Best Albums of 2011

And now for something completely obligatory—Web in Front’s Best Albums of 2011.  As is the case with every other music obsessive I know and/or read, all things must shudder to a halt in my life by the year’s end to accommodate my musing on which records I liked the most (it beats working for a living).  That said, 2011 was an odd year for these ears—while I came across and spun several solid to good records, very few seemed entrenched in the greatness that the past few years of great albums have carried with them.  Who knows, maybe I’m just like Mouse and getting old and grumpy.  Still, there were a handful of albums in 2011 that burrowed their way to permanence on my record player, in my iTunes folder, and between my ears.  Check ‘em out below.

Also, as is ever the case, it should be specified that these were my best albums of the year—wholly subjective, this is my best-of compilation of 2011.  Feel free to rant/disagree in the comments.

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December 16, 2011 | Filed Under Album Reviews, Exclusive Features, Site News | 1 Comment  |

Bootleg: The Cure live at The Pantages Theatre (11.21.11)

Photo credit: Andrew Youssef | The OC Weekly

As 2011 comes to an end, not only am I compiling my wholly obligatory list of my favorite albums of the year, I’m also engaging in the masochism that is regretting all the great shows that I’ve missed.  For every stellar set I caught, there would be another that I was forced to miss, such as The Cure’s L.A. stint in November on the Reflections tour, in which the band played their first three albums in their entirety.  Of all the shows in Los Angeles that I missed in 2011, this may be the one I regret missing out on the most.  Dig the gargantuan concert and setlist after the jump.

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December 13, 2011 | Filed Under Featured Media, Podcasts | Leave a Comment  |

Free Ticket Giveaway: Dinosaur Jr. Plays ‘Bug’ In Its Entirety, Live Interview With Henry Rollins (12.14.11)

How’s this for an early Christmas present: two free tickets to see Dinosaur Jr. play their blistering 1988 album, Bug, in its entirety, followed by a live interview with Henry Rollins.  Not bad, huh?  Here are the details–Web in Front is giving away a free pair of tix to the show, which is going down on December 14th at the Music Box.  Interested?  Hit us up on Twitter with your favorite song from the album, and we’ll select the winner at random on Monday.  See you there.

December 8, 2011 | Filed Under Music News | Leave a Comment  |

Album Review: Manhattan Murder Mystery – Women House EP

A fast and gritty meatblood splatter of sonic youth and rage shadowed with bruised melodies, melancholic lyrics, and a weird/ wounded hyper-catchiness, Manhattan Murder Mystery’s Women House cassette EP is guided by voices as scattershot and sublime as Robert Pollard, Pixies, Fugazi, Edwyn Collins and The Movies.  From the harmonica razored laryngeal fervor of the 99% anthem “Stadium Way” to the wrecking ball frenzy and melodic interludes of “I’ve Got a Hole in My Head” to the warbly, funereal beauty—that’s right, beauty—of “Arlington Cemetary” (sic) and its black, blue and bloodied Americana vignettes, Women House would stand as MMM’s finest release had the band not already loosed the best local album of 2011 back in May.  That said, as far as odds & sods go, this is a powerhouse—and you can pick it up tonight at The Satellite, where Manhattan Murder Mystery will be launching the first evening of their free Monday night residency of December.  See you there.

December 5, 2011 | Filed Under Album Reviews, Music News, New Music Preview | 1 Comment  |

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