This wild little guy has been out for a second but we were so busy with shows, shows and shows that we didn’t get a chance to make a huge deal about it! So behold—L.A. RECORD 104! First issue of our sixth year of printing with busting-through-the-mold L.A. transplant KING TUFF on the cover and a very provocative MIA DOI TODD on the poster! Must it be seen to be believed? Or must one first believe to see? Order a copy and all will be revealed … including characteristically reality-rending interviews with Hall & Oates, the Middle Class, Animals & Men, Don Juan Y Los Blancos, Paul Collins, James Pants, Shabazz Palaces and more!

And of course there’s side B with interviews with Tim Burton (!?), Guy Maddin and Sparks on their new collaborative musical, Interpreters by Bleached, Computer Jay and Ria Ama and more, as well as 50 hand-made hand-illustrated album reviews, mind-debriding comics — now expanded! — and a new L.A. WISDOM, in which DJ Nobody and Laena Geronimo discover the exact moment when living with your parents becomes sad.

Order your own copy here! Or subscribe here! Or just grab one for free across the greater Los Angeles metro zone!

L.A. RECORD 104:

CHELSEA WOLFE — KRISTINA BENSON
MIA DOI TODD — DAIANA FEUER
PAUL COLLINS — DAN COLLINS AND KRISTINA BENSON
HALL AND OATES — DAN COLLINS
PAPERCRANES — DAIANA FEUER
ANIMALS & MEN — CHRIS ZIEGLER
THE MIDDLE CLASS — JONNY BELL
KING TUFF — CHRIS ZIEGLER
SPINDRIFT — DAIANA FEUER
MICHAEL CHAPMAN — KEVIN FERGUSON
FEEDING PEOPLE — DAN COLLINS AND LAINNA FADER
DON JUAN Y LOS BLANCOS — LAINNA FADER
JAMES PANTS — CHRIS ZIEGLER
SHABAZZ PALACES — LAINNA FADER

ALBUM REVIEWS EDITED BY DAN COLLINS
THE INTERPRETER: COMPUTER JAY — KRISTINA BENSON
THE INTERPRETER: BLEACHED — KRISTINA BENSON

COMICS EDITED BY TOM CHILD

L.A. WISDOM EDITED BY DAIANA FEUER

ART EDITED BY DREW DENNY
TIM BURTON — DREW DENNY

FILM EDITED BY LAINNA FADER
THE INTERPRETER: RIA AMA — LAINNA FADER
SPARKS/GUY MADDIN — LAINNA FADER

BOOKS EDITED BY NIKKI BAZAR
EXCERPT FROM KASMIR BY JON LEON
FROM DALI TO LAMA … KARMA OR COINCIDENCE BY PATRICK LYONS
BOOK AND ZINE REVIEWS

Download: James Pants “Thin Moon”

(from the “Thin Moon” 7″ out Dec. 8 on Stones Throw!)

Low expectations both shield you from disappointment and make way for pleasant surprises, the first one being openers and beloved B52 worshippers WEAVE! A friend of mine once incorrectly observed that our generation—through fashion, music and art—is reliving the ’70s. Not true, we’re reliving the pre-Reagan ’80s, if anything, and WEAVE! are a fine band to help us plod our way through Carter’s malaise.

Next up was James Pants, who also surprised because A) he’s from Spokane (my family’s desolate eastern Washington hometown) and B) he was totally content channeling Gary Wilson’s spirit as he performed songs designed to—as he said—make you feel alternately good and creepy about yourself.
By far the night’s biggest surprise, though, was seeing James Pants and co transform into the backing band for Gary Wilson himself! Gary didn’t seem to mind—he was decked in red and green capes, packing tape, baby powder and blow-up dolls as usual—but the magic wasn’t there. Even Mary—frequent collaborator and friend of Gary—seemed incapable of making the night shine no matter how many times she recited spoken word and sprinkled baby powder over Gary. Something was missing. Perhaps it was the real Blind Dates from Endicott who are normally a fixture for Gary but tonight were nowhere to be seen—or even Gary himself. Maybe he saw through our air-conditioned bodies and into our souls and realized that we’d just paid $12 to get into a venue nowhere near as purifying as the roof where his last Los Angeles show took place. Maybe we betrayed ourselves, and Gary was in no mood to forgive us. We’re animals, after all.

—Kevin Ferguson

Download: James Pants x Egyptian Lover “Cosmic Rapp”

(off Welcome out now on Stones Throw)