Exene Cervenka helped invent what Los Angeles is now and helped save the best of what it used to be. She releases a new solo album Somewhere Gone on Bloodshot in October and is moving back to California after years in a historic farmhouse in Missouri. She speaks now while camping on the beach. This interview by Chris Ziegler.

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UPDATE: Click here for a review of Corgan’s band Spirits In The Sky! Via: Open BILLY CORGAN has announced that Mike Byrne has joined THE SMASHING PUMPKINS as their new drummer. The 19-year-old Portland, OR native will make his debut with the band on the Pumpkins’ next album—about which a major announcement is expected in [...]

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Long Beach’s Valley Arena deliver a dynamic, well-crafted modern rock album—I guess you could say that their sound has evolved and grown up, but they bring enough of their old building blocks to the studio to have assemble something mostly new, yet hazily familiar. They’re able to strike that delicate balance of their noisier/more frenetic elements with newly focused song structure that lends itself well to their individual playing styles.

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Fans of Grandaddy probably sensed they would one day hear again from Jason Lytle, the band’s former singer/songrwriter/reluctant leader, for despite its well-documented struggles, Grandaddy proved to be resilient. Now Jason Lytle is back. Though he’s relocated from Modesto, Calif. to Bozeman, the fifth-largest city in Montana, his distinctive sound is unchanged. This interview by Nina Gregory.

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Without employing tired band comparisons to the Valley Arena’s angular modern rock sound, it’s hard to put a finger on exactly what makes this band interesting. It might be the calculated bass and guitar composition, or it might be the varied song structure; it’s most likely that they are talented song writers. In an A.D.D.-addled music scene where every band around town has to have a gimmick—which isn’t always a bad thing—it’s still somehow refreshing to hear a three-piece that just writes high-quality, straight-forward rock songs.

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Dan Collins (who interviewed Polyamorous Affair here) will be DJing their show (also featuring Blue Jungle) tonight at the Echoplex and Chris Ziegler (who interviewed Magic Lantern and Imaad Wasif) will be DJing their show tonight at the Prospector. Will Roky Erickson records be present at both? Statistically likely. More info on both events here [...]

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60 Watt Kid is a three-piece that has no laptops, 80-odd effects pedals, no bass, and a helluva lot of creative energy. Dan Collins interviews them after a grueling practice, on a hot night in his yard, around a smoky chiminea. A lhasa poo stands guard.

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L.A. RECORD is very excited to learn that the Sonics are headlining one of the days at Long Beach’s Ink N Iron festival this June 5, 6 and 7. As far as we know, this is the only Sonics show in Southern California in decades? And their only show close to L.A. in recent memory, [...]

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matt wignall Download: Free Moral Agents “Tradere” (Live at {open} in Long Beach) [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Download: Free Moral Agents “Aravand” (Live at the Prospector in Long Beach) [Audio clip: view full post to listen] (from the Control This! EP coming soon on Chocolate Industries) Two live recordings from Long Beach’s [...]

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photo courtesy poo bah We weren’t able to get a hold of everyone in Southern California who is observing Record Store Day tomorrow, but we did ask a few of our favorite local stores what sort of special things they’ll be doing. If you aren’t at Coachella—or if you want to sneak away—be sure to [...]

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