Xiu Xiu The lineup for the evening made for a cool mix of very different styles and emotions. Noveller opened with loud loops of sounds from a bow pulled over guitar strings, twisted knobs and plucking. The noises were intense and lovely, like an iceberg melting. She worked with the delicacy of an embalmer, producing [...]

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It’s no wonder people don’t know what to say about White Denim—it took me about 20 minutes to figure out what was going on after they took stage. But here’s my theory: right before the show, they said to each other, “I know! Let’s each drink a gallon of iced tea super fast and then get through as many of our songs as fast as we can without stopping until urine itself is dripping from our pores!”

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White Denim has avoided being labeled for several years now, but after a giant tour and the release of their third album, this Austin trio is rocking a little too hard to be ignored. Bassist Steve Terebecki talks about satanic nightmares and names my sister’s baby. This interview by Amber Hollingsworth.

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L.A. darlings Local Natives have had a big year—a UK tour, a record deal, and a road trip with Fool’s Gold and Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros. Bassist Andy Hamm stepped outside on a chilly afternoon in Seattle to share with us some of the highlights. This interview by Amber Hollingsworth.

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There were a few songs that started out with just Trela, the other 9 members staring dreamily at points on stage and occasionally mouthing along to a line. But just when you started to wonder “Wait, what are these other guys doing here?” you’d hear a tsk tsk tsk on the cymbal or a delicate whine from the violin, and you knew this was about to turn into something big. Then all the sounds would ball up tighter and tighter until they’d explode into a 10-piece sonic rush that made your hair blow back a little bit from your face.

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Like a good lover, Raphael Saadiq understands the importance of anticipation. The first number, Marvin Gaye’s version of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” was played with the curtain still down, lights low. So when Saadiq came out singing “I Love That Girl” (I’m assuming he meant me), he was already pretty much in.

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White Rabbits love percussion. In fact, if you know any of their songs, you probably know “Percussion Gun.” I won’t say that going to a White Rabbits concert is like getting shot in the face with that gun, but maybe bonked over the head with the handle of it, say.

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When my friend invited me to The Decemberists show at UCLA’s Royce Hall, here’s what I agreed to (from the band’s website): “The debut of Here Come the Waves: The Hazards of Love Visualized, a collaboration between the band and four filmmakers, Guilherme Marcondes, Julia Pott, Peter Sluszka, and Santa Maria—each of whom have created animation to accompany a section of the album.” Sounds rad, right? It was.

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A scrawny pale bald white dude only goes so far, but add a voluptuous soulful ole-timey-gospel singer with a voice that could knock down brick walls and you have got yourself a spine-tingling performance. And my spine was simply not expecting to be tingled.

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It wasn’t just the appearance of this husky crew that made them seem out of place in the chandeliered El Rey—the nature of their music simply belongs in the backwoods of Oregon. The state was mentioned as the inspiration behind several of their songs (“This one’s about a river in Oregon;” “We found this song in an Oregon forest;” “We were thinking about the roller skating rink back home”).

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