Though David Lynch last released a feature film in 2006, the acclaimed director of Blue Velvet and Mulholland Dr. hasn’t exactly been quiet. He’s embarked on a long season of musical experimentation, from his own Crazy Clown Time album to organizing a series of concerts in support of his foundation for transcendental meditation. Last night Lynch hosted a “coming out party” in Los Angeles for a new collaborator, singer Chrysta Bell.
Standing onstage at the Bootleg Theatre in downtown L.A., Lynch smiled as he introduced the tall, redheaded torch singer. “This is going to be a great night for me, because I love Chrysta Bell,” he declared to cheers. “Chrysta Bell is round and fully packed. Sometimes people dream, or sometimes people walk down the street and wonder: What is that shape? What is that sound?”
Read more here.
Mike Andrew’s first resident performance for the month of August is tonight (August 1) and one of LA Weekly’s picks for “The Five Best Concerts in LA This Week.” Read their write-up about the show below and be sure you come to the show, in which he’ll be joined by singer/songwriter Nik Freitas.
The disgustingly multitalented composer-songwriter-singer-producer Mike Andrews finds a moment to celebrate the release of his latest solo record, Spilling a Rainbow, coming in August on the essential Everloving label. You’ve heard Andrews via his imaginative scores for a lot of your fave TV shows and movies, including Freaks and Geeks, Donnie Darko, all those Judd Apatow flicks like The Five Year Engagement and Bridesmaids, and Jake Kasdan’s magnificent Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. A sort of concept album themed around the birth of his baby boy, Andrews’ new solo release reveals a sweetly mellifluous and choicely harmonized pop — and a slightly psychedelic one, too, like in “Music for Cell Division,” where he scored his wife’s ultrasound. Andrews’ Wednesday-night residency with ultra-very-special friends runs throughout August; tonight he’s joined by singer-songwriter Nik Freitas. –John Payne
Gorilla vs. Bear has just released their July 2012 Mix and it features Taken By Trees’ latest single, “Dreams.” The mix also includes songs by Maria Minerva, Frank Ocean, and Ariel’s Pink Haunted Graffiti. Listen to the mix here and come see Taken By Trees when she comes to the Bootleg Bar on September 26th.
Chrysta Bell’s show on 8/2 is a LA Weekly Music Pick. Below you’ll find a portion of their write-up but read the entire article on the LA Weekly website (which includes a nice section on our Mike Andrews residency, too).
If there’s one thing that the singers who’ve worked with filmmaker David Lynch have in common, it’s that their music comes shrouded in layers of gauzy atmosphere. Such otherwise disparate chanteuses as Julee Cruise and Ariana Delawari find common ground in the way Lynch plunges their languorous ballads into a pool of swirling echoes and wraps them up in a shimmering haze. For more than two decades, David Lynch’s divas have carved out their own distinct subgenre of dream pop, and the Texas native Chrysta Bell is one of his most captivating protégées to date. “This train stops for no one,” she warns as a stark and lonely soundscape wells up behind her on the title track of her 2011 album, This Train. But Bell doesn’t always keep things so cool, shuffling off her immortal coil to reveal a wounded human heart on “Swing With Me,” where she wails with a piercing, persuasively soulful intensity amid Lynch’s columns of funereal shadows.
—Falling James
Victoria Bergsman aka Taken By Trees released a video for what will be the first single off her new album, Other Worlds. The video for “Dreams” was shot on Hawaii’s North Shore (fitting considering the song was inspired by a recent trip to the island). Watch the video here.
Online music publication Consequence of Sound is feeling all kinds of love for Eternal Summers’ new LP Correct Behavior–praising it for its “poppier and darker, more experimental tendencies” than the groups’ first effort. Read the review here (and then come see Eternal Summers along with DZ Deathrays and and Bleeding Rainbows on September 14th).
Under the watchful gaze of the half moon, a line stretched down Beverly Blvd. outside of the Bootleg Theater. The street lamps flickered in the warm summer air. The crowd could barely fit inside the confines of the theater….This might sound crazy but the closeness and heat of the room seemed to be right where The Heavy wanted us for their grand entrance. By the time the band from Noid (yes, Noid) England had strolled up the stairs to the stage, the audience were hot, bothered, and desperately wanted to dance (or get into a fight). Lead singer Kevin Swaby wasted no time with introductions. He grabbed the microphone, pushed the stand out of the way, and launched into “Can’t Play Dead.”
Lead singer Kevin Swaby
Bounding across the stage, Swaby never stayed still. Back and forth, back and forth he paced, making sure that every single person in the place knew that this song was about them. Whether it was leaping in the air during a chorus or crouching down at the front making sure the fans knew they were appreciated, Swaby owned that crowd. “You fuckers are trying to kill me up here!” he grinned as his crisp white button down was soon discarded in favor of the black tank top underneath. Tipping their heads back, they sang every word that Swaby fed them with full throated approval.
The Heavy are quite good at stripping away all sense of decorum. You could blame it on the Dirty Three (their horn section) or Chris Ellul’s savage beats or Spencer Page’s slinky, hip shaking bass or Daniel Taylor’s hair raising guitar solos. But for my money it’s the lyrics that really make people lose their minds. It’s damn near impossible to sing “All I know is she’s got to go. I ain’t taking this shit no more,” without a wave of pride swelling in your chest – LA Weekly
Dan Collins from LA Record offers a great review and some cool pictures of the Shrine, Graveyard, and Radio Moscow show we put-on back in February. Take a look for yourself: http://larecord.com/live-reviews/2012/02/06/the-shrine-radio-moscow-graveyard-the-bootleg#more-62459
MTV is feeling some major love for Eyes Lips Eyes and their new single “Don’t Blow It,” which they think “sounds like the B-52s had a few frozen drinks and played spin the bottle with the Rapture and then crashed James Murphy’s DJ set on the S.S. Coachella.” We couldn’t agree more! Read the article and listen to the song here: http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2012/07/19/eyes-lips-eyes-dont-blow-it/
Our friends at LA Record snapped some awesome pics at the Foxes show Tuesday night. Here’s one of the beutiful singer (aka UK’s Louisa Rose Allen). Check out the show write-up on their website for more amazing photos like this one.
http://larecord.com/photos/2012/07/19/foxes-the-bootleg-theatre
