I got on a bus in Los Feliz yesterday at about 1 p.m. headed for Marfa, Texas, to attend the first annual Marfa Film Festival. If you've been to the movies, you know Marfa as a smalltown Hollywood, where both There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men were filmed recently, and where Giant was filmed in 1956. The bus is a whole funny story that you'll hear about soon enough (I'm working on a feature), but the reason I'm writing about this in the music section and not the film section (besides the obvious) is because on the bus were Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, the erstwhile project of Ima Robot lead singer Alex Ebert.

A Marfa room. There are a lot of filmmakers here this weekend, apparently
But also then a funny thing has happened that has made me really happy I'm here. We were setting up for an art show in this oddball complex called Building 98 on the outskirts of town yesterday, where last night, after a screening of There Will Be Blood at the site of what remains of the film's main Marfa set (a frickin' amazing sight), Sharpe and his Zeroes, eleven members strong, performed.
So we're setting up the equipment and a really nice band is rehearsing in an adjoining space. At first I'm not paying attention; the sound is in the distance and I figured it was some locals banging around. But the songs were so good, nice three piece with a British lead singer. The more I heard them, the more I liked it, until finally I just walked into the room and sat down. They gave me little notice, nodded and kept playing. Sounded even better in the same room. After I left, I discovered the band was LA-based Victoria, and the singer was Antony Langdon of Spacehog. They've got a new CD coming out, and are playing here this weekend. Langdon's also working on a record with Joaquin Phoenix.
Yeah, so that was a pleasant little surprise. The other one is that Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond will perform this tomorrow afternoon at something called the Marfa Tea Party. Here:

If you happen to be in Texas, swing by.
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://mt.laweekly.com/mt-tb.cgi/58856
In Shanxi Province, the pollution problem is even worse than you thought… View Slideshow »
In Shanxi Province, the pollution problem is even worse than you thought… View Slideshow »
Resuscitated 1961 documentary recalls stark lives of L.A.'s urban Indians
It’s a Sunday night in downtown Los Angeles and my friend, Kumeyaay Indian filmmaker Cedar Sherbert, hits me with an interesting question. … Keep Reading »
Griffith J. Griffith's great-grandson: "Its not a theme park. Its not a movie studio. People dont want to see it turned into Disneyland ..."
PERHAPS NOWHERE IS THE CURRENT PUSH led by Los Angeles City Hall and its platoon of private lobbyists for an overbuilt, overcommercialized, re-engineered L.A. better epitomized than in the unfolding struggle over the so-called Melendrez Master Plan for Griffith Park. … Keep Reading »
Where the otaku world and music geekdom collide
Anneke knew that she hadn’t won the competition. She said this to a group of four people — a friend, a reporter and two random college students, one wearing blue plastic sunglasses and another dressed as the lead character of the vampire anime series Hellsing — while standing outside the Nokia Theatre. … Keep Reading »
Flashism
Kori Newkirk at LAXART (Click to enlarge) Kori Newkirk, Rank, (2007) … Keep Reading »
Griffith J. Griffith's great-grandson: "Its not a theme park. Its not a movie studio. People dont want to see it turned into Disneyland ..."
A $40 billion promise fuels suspicion of an agency that has lied large before
Also, Palisades residents respond to Weekly's "Rathouse" cover story
He was right about two Americas -- if only one didn't exist in his swollen head
Mayor sought a study saying East and South L.A. are booming. They're not
State turns instead to manufacturing ships, suits, even diapers
The Italian mood is swell, but why so little crudo?
Waterpillars, Krunch rolls and Philly Slurs — South Bay sushi mecca has it all
Sit at Duane Earle's place long enough, and all of Crenshaw passes by
What to do in L.A., August 15-21
Dear Mexican: As a Mexican, I’m always ashamed of the fact that a lot…
Also, Winter, the Groundlings' latest and more
Also Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer and more
History is made at midnight: Excerpt from Josh Frank's In Heaven Everything Is Fine: The Unsolved Life of Peter Ivers and the Lost History of New Wave Theatre
Yuri Yuryevich, also a former journalist, says idea of Russian censorship was concocted by the West investigative journalism no problem as long as president isn't criticized
Shoppers wait five hours just to browse for T-shirts
Checking out the rumors at the Sunset Marquis' Gibson Through the Lens reception
San Francisco landscape architect takes the indoors outside in L.A. neighborhoods
Inside the secret world of the straight guise
See more Bill Hader videos at Funny or DieOur people, of course, being huge fucking nerds. This is the first episode of The Line, a […]
Everytime I start to forget all the dire news about the live-action G.I. Joe movie, something new leaks out and sends me into nerd rage […]
An interview with the director of Vicky Cristina Barcelona
George Lucas, that greedy visionary, is now in the infomercial manufacturing business
Yuri Yuryevich, also a former journalist, says idea of Russian censorship was concocted by the West
One of the catches of this festival -- the venues aren't all near each other. You can break a real sweat walking from the Orpheum to the Laemmle Grande
Air apparent: a photo essay from Beijing and beyond
Resuscitated 1961 documentary recalls stark lives of L.A.'s urban Indians
In a land of sweatshops, Karen Kane Inc. stands out by paying its workers full medical benefits even in hard economic times
Already a Web hit, Winfrey's monster series prepares to attack kid TV
He lived the young man's dream in Spain; next, he directs Larry David in NYC and Puccini for L.A. Opera
Leave it to Woody Allen to make a romantic comedy in which all the…
If only Ben Stiller and company were as hot and naughty as the P.C. protesters complain
Also, Henry Poole Is Here, Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer and more
Sexy hitmen, gay life after 40 and French promiscuity
A "lost" classic makes its long overdue theatrical debut
I watched a good deal of the sweat, struggle and crushing loss over the…
Where the otaku world and music geekdom collide
A peek inside some Hollywood hot spots. Plus, LCD Soundsystem and Mondo Hollywood shows
Also, Previously on Lost, Raphael Saadiq, Liz Pappademas
Is the ambient widget device a friend who will share corn-bread recipes and glimpses at its panda cam, or a foe who will steal your passwords?
Nontoxic hair color under the shredded-denim ceilings of a Greenopia-recommended beauty parlor
So this looks to be the slowest box office weekend of the entire year (and perhaps the worst weekend in 7 years), with Lionsgate's predictable hit man action pic Bangkok Dangerous the only new wide release. And still Nicolas Cage can't attract an audience. It barely opened Friday with a paltry $2.7 million from 2,650 theaters for what should [...]
It's time to end once and for all the rampant speculation. Sony doesn't want any info to leak but I'm told that both star Tobey Maguire and director Sam Raimi will be returning to make Zodiac screenwriter Jamie Vanderbilt's script of Spider-Man 4. Sources tell me that Sony has recently locked in both veterans of Spider-Man [...]
The last things we'd ever do
In a land of sweatshops, Karen Kane Inc. stands out by paying its workers full medical benefits even in hard economic times
Comments