Perhaps the greatest gift Coachella bestows upon its attendees is the feeling that you’re not alone. Schmaltzy, yes, but stick with us. Now, among discerning music fans, a band like The National is far from obscure. They’ve garnered widespread critical praise over five albums, played on national TV and multiple international festivals, and are even [...]

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PJ Harvey – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
Radiohead – everything
Arcade Fire – Funeral…

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lis Download: Michael Nhat “I Love Bread” Mixtape [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Rapper Michael Nhat’s new self-titled album releases Tuesday, Oct. 27, on How To Be A Microwave and his record release show is this Saturday at the House of Vermont. He presents L.A. RECORD with a mixtape—which he titled I Love [...]

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Jonneine Zapata has a stare that makes grown men cower and weep. She is the closest thing to Jim Morrison in the Silverlake scene and her live show is mesmerizing. She speaks to Scott Schultz about Nick Cave, the importance of eye contact and how macrobiotics go with an Italian meal in Brooklyn.

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Possessing a mystique and attitude far greater than her slight stature suggests, PJ carried the show with her dominating vocals, which were accentuated by irreverent movements clearly powered by the thralls of performance ecstasy. Everything about the stage set-up informed the audience that we were witnessing more than a mere rock show—instead, an event of theatric proportions. Similarly dressed from head to toe in sophisticated black, the band fused together into a singular unit. Each song was a world of its own, a point driven home by curtain-call-closing-lights-out after each and every song, followed by bows from each member of the band.

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It’s a performance that inspires fingers in the ears—partly because it’s loud, partly because in doing so one can more precisely decipher the inescapably worthwhile lyrics. “Civil War Correspondent” segues into “I’m a Soldier,” gradually including Parish on ukulele as the others come in minimally yet with great impact. The attention to space in the songs—that stunning care for the physical dynamic of sounds working—hammers meaning home better than any monolith monster wall of sound. Witness the withering psychodrama of “Taut” and the mesmeric, cochlea-boggling tones of “Un Cercle Autour Du Soleil” and “The Chair.” Harvey’s flouncy dancing falls somewhere between the moves of Bez from Happy Mondays and the Martha Graham Dance Company; “Leaving California” opens the range of her colossal voice like a drop of water in quality scotch—an experience.

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The folks at KCRW and Morning Becomes Eclectic (who gave a nice mention to L.A. RECORD on yesterday’s show!) have released their schedule of live-from-Austin broadcast events happening next week, including sets by Moris Tepper sidemouse P.J. Harvey, Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, Sara Lov of Devics and more. Info below:

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michael hsiung

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