Pocket Symphony

I admit it, I’m a fan of Flight Of The Conchords. The clever comedy of the acoustic-folk duo from New Zealand consistently entertains me. Their HBO show, which is basically a live-action version of their BBC radio show, was a surprise hit, and their EP on Sub-Pop was able to straddle the hipster label’s music and comedy genres, and even pick up a Grammy Award.

This past Tuesday, their full-length CD was released, and two days later (that’s Thursday, for those of you playing at home), FOTC was going to do an in-store appearance at Amoeba Records, the largest independent record store in L.A. (in the world? - maybe).

[A brief aside: I love Amoeba. I often jump to its defense when friends argue that it put other mom & pop record stores out of business or that they charge too much for used CDs. But earlier in the week, I had had two disappointing Amoeba experiences: I had visited the store on Saturday for "Record Store Day" to pick up a day-only 10" by Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, only to discover that the 15 copies(!) that the store had received had sold out within moments of the store's opening, leaving me in a extra-crowded shop with longer-than-usual lines and no special sales or discounts - and then on my return a couple of days later, I asked a clerk in the video department why used and promo copies of the excellent DVD magazine Wholphin were marked at 5 to 10 dollars over the printed cover price, considering they're still all in print and available at book stores all over the city, and was rudely told that "that's capitalism, man." (By the way, if anyone wants to sell me a copy of the Malkmus "Cold Son" 10" - let me know)]

I figured that I’d head over to Amoeba and catch the show, which was scheduled to take place at 6 p.m.

I left work around 4-ish, and went home first to walk and feed the dogs (I know I should have gone straight to Amoeba, but that would make me an irresponsible dog owner - which is one of the worst things one can be), and then headed over to the store on Sunset Blvd. When I got there, there was a line that wrapped 3/4 the way around the block, and apparently, the store was already full (we were told that 1,000 people were inside). I quickly weighed my options (1.stubbornly try to get into the store, 2. go home, 3. go someplace else), and decided to go someplace else. I remembered that my friend Jeff, who, along with his wife Diane, runs the excellent Ocean Avenue Books in San Francisco, had suggested I pick up “The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare And How It Changed America” by David Hajdu. I decided that I would go to Book Soup (a terrific independent bookstore, also on Sunset) and see if they had it. When I arrived at Book Soup, an in-store wine and beer and snack party had just begun for 4 authors from Akashic Books: Mike Farrell (ex TV-star turned activist), Elizabeth Crane, Nina Revoyr, and Abraham Rodriguez. There was no reading, no autograph table - just a bunch of people hanging out and chatting. Very civil. Unlike the massive crowd at the record store, this was a more laid-back affair. I said hello to Mike, Nina and Elizabeth and chatted for several minutes with Abraham. Before he became a novelist and moved to Berlin, he was the leader of the punk band “Urgent Fury”, so we talked about music and politics and the European perception of the US Presidential elections. He was kind enough to sign a copy of his new book, “South By South Bronx” for me. I’m looking forward to reading it. When I went to pay for the books, I noticed that Book Soup also had a copy of the brand-new issue of Wholphin, as well as an autographed copy (!) of the new Julie Andrew memoir for sale. I hung out at the register for a bit, talking about alt-rock, Blake Edwards, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, and Buster Keaton with the clerks (more on that later, I’m sure).

In retrospect, I’m not too disappointed that I missed Flight Of The Conchords - they’re playing two nights at The Orpheum next month. Instead, I got to hang with some cool people and pick up some neat stuff. Expect some book reports here soon.

After a half-decade away, I’m back in the music business. The attraction was a simple one: I love music. And now that I live in Los Angeles, I’m trying to get out and see as many bands as I can.

So last Friday, I decided to go down to my local club - Spaceland - and see a few bands. A couple of my good friends joined me for a bite at a neat little Thai restaurant a few doors down from the club, so when we arrived at 9:30, our bellies were full, and we were ready to rock.

First up was Michael Vidal, leader of Abe Vigoda (the band, not the man). I haven’t yet seen Abe Vigoda, but I’ve really liked what I’ve heard so far (I should go see them - I’m missing them tonight, but I should put them on my calendar for May 7 at the Echo). Michael’s brief solo set was less “songs” and more experimental loops with guitar and vocals. Moody, pleasant, but it seemed like it was over almost as soon as it started.

Before the next band, we wandered over to the PRE merchandise table, which was manned by lead singer Akiko “Keeks” Matsuura. I picked up a copy of their new limited edition CD (it comes in a cool embossed tin) and their split “bootleg” single with Canadian band AIDS Wolf. Keeks made sure to remind me that she appears topless in the photos on the single. My pal Chris pointed out that Keeks is a great salesperson.

Then, the second band came on… but I’m going to fast forward to the headliners first.

PRE is a noise rock outfit from England. The band rocked and might have been considered high energy, except the energy of the musicians on stage paled by comparison to that of Keeks, who is clearly the star of the show. Jumping, screaming, cajoling… singing slightly naughty but amusing lyrics - I’m glad I was able to witness their first West Coast show. Here’s a short sample of their insanity:

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But it was the band that played between Michael Vidal and PRE that still has me spinning. They’re called The Mae Shi, and they’ve been playing around SoCal for almost 6 years. They released a couple of CDs and a DVD on 5RC, a subsidiary label of Kill Rock Stars (a label which I admire). They have played out relentlessly for the last few years. Their latest CD (and first full-length to feature a new lead singer) got rave reviews all over the web. How is it that I never listened to the band before?

The Mae Shi started their set from the audience, belting a song called “I Get (Almost) Everything I Want”, as they slowly took the stage. Once on stage, nobody in the band stayed in position for more than a few seconds. They ran back and forth, jumped off the stage, ran backstage to get props, and swapped instruments almost non-stop for the duration of the set. The music ranged from screaming (seeming) chaos to beautiful melodic sing-alongs.

Here’s a short video clip of them playing “Leech & Locust”, during which many audience members danced under a large sheet:

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I had no idea what their songs were about, but I really enjoyed the set, so I headed over to their merch table after their set and picked up their latest CD HLLLYH and a t-shirt - I was really tempted by the home-made sound machines, but I held off.

The next morning, I popped the CD on, and was blown away. First of all, it turns out that this is a concept album all about the events described in the New Testament’s Book of Revelations, from several different points of view. Pretty heavy stuff. It took me a while to realize that the album title is “HaLLeLuYaH” without the vowels. Anyway, on Saturday afternoon, I made my way to my local indie record shop and picked up all of their older releases, except the concert-ony CDR’s, that I still have to track down (glad I saved my money and didn’t buy those sound machines).

But I have to be honest.  Although there are inspired moments of genius in their previous releases, nothing comes close to HLLLYH. It’s like discovering the Beatles when Revolver came out. I know I’m late to the party, but I look forward to whatever comes next. And I will be at their next LA area show.

Here’s the opening song from HLLLYH (you can buy the album on CD or double vinyl from the band’s own site):

 

 Lamb and Lion [2:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

I admit that even though I’m a movie lover, for the last couple years most of my movie watching has been at home. It’s expensive to go to theaters, and unless I see a movie on opening weekend, the prints are usually so scratched that waiting for a copy on HBO or DVD tends to be a more attractive option. Sadly, though, I miss out on the big screen (obviously) and the the experience of seeing a movie with a crowd.

Since I moved to L.A., I’ve come to realize that, as movie fans go, I’m an amateur. This town is unquestionably a movie town, and there are so many opportunities to see films in special places with special people, that I’ve recently started “going to the movies” again.

To that end, I became a member of American Cinematheque.

There are several reasons why I’m glad I did this:

• A membership at American Cinematheque gives some well-needed money to an organization that’s “dedicated exclusively to the public presentation of the Moving Picture in all its forms.”
• I get discounted tickets to see movies at both the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica and, more importantly for me, The Egyptian Theater in Hollywood.
• The programming at both of these landmark theaters is adventurous and impeccable.
• The crowds are great - full of lovers of cinema.
• As a member I get invited to special screenings of super-cool movies

And that last reason is why I’m posting right now.

Last night, I was lucky enough to attend a screening of Mr. Lonely, the new movie by Harmony Korine.

Korine is probably best known as the former prodigy who wrote the controversial Kids and directed the (equally controversial) Gummo and Julien Donkey-Boy. I don’t want to get into a full-blown review here - maybe sometime later - but I will say that I really enjoyed it. Unlike many of his peers, Korine continues to make independent, true-to-his-vision films. While the main plot of the movie (Michael Jackson impersonator leaves the big city to live on a commune populated exclusively by other impersonators and finds his true self) seems like it is intentionally “weird” - I found the film to be quite gentle and touching.

The cast of the film features some unknowns (including non-actors) as well as a few surprising and cool choices. Playing (impersonators of) The Pope and The Queen are James Fox and Anita Pallenberg, who last appeared together in the Roeg/Cammell 1970 cult masterpiece Performance. Playing a priest in a parallel story is the great director (and friend of Korine) Werner Herzog.

After the screening of the movie, Korine engaged in a Q&A session (in which the moderator seemed confused and awkward and Korine - acting against his previous public persona - was collected, honest and articulate. A particularly nice surprise was when Werner Herzog came up from the audience to help Korine field some questions.

At that point, I reached for my camera and shot a few minutes of video, which I share with you here. A couple of caveats: I wasn’t close to the front of the theater, so I used crappy digital zoom, resulting in odd focus and a “hot pixel” that seems to dance around in the frame. I didn’t edit this at all - it’s just a quick grab of a couple minutes of live footage. I’m too lazy to look up the Dogme rules, but I’m fairly sure it wouldn’t be up to snuff. Enjoy anyway.

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