Los Angeles Music Blog

In the strange wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES reviews the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or other), believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Check out past installments here. Submissions or suggestions? Email INCHES.

Chris Martins

​Artist: Lazer Sword
Title: "Gucci Sweatshirt"
Label: Innovative Leisure (Mt. Washington)
Format: 12-inch single, 500 pressed

The evil geniuses that comprise Lazer Sword -- San Francisco's Low Limit and New York's Lando Kal -- should be given some kind of award. Okay, so they have (last month they took home the best dance/electronic prize in SF Weekly's annual Music Awards), but "Gucci Sweatshirt" is something else -- never has something so presumably warm and fluffy been rendered in such cold, dark and spiky terms. The single -- originally recorded in 2007 but unavailable on vinyl until now -- weaves its nasty, dubby electronics through a soundscape that resembles a Nine Inch Nails instrumental mapped to a fritzy circuit board. It's then significantly reimagined by Lazer Sword itself (in a chopped-up four-on-the-floor electro remix) and Neon Black, who turns the track into an acid house playground. A new bass-damaged banger "Jet Black," wraps up the B-side, making this an essential platter for the duo's quickly growing fan base. Too bad there were only 500 made. Stream "Jet Black" after watching the Lunice pay his unique form of tribute to "Gucci Sweatshirt" (while wearing one!).

In the strange wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES reviews the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or other), believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Read past installments here. Submissions or suggestions? Email INCHES here.

Chris Martins

​Artist: The Anasazis
Title: Introducing The Anasazis
Label: I Hate Rock N' Roll (Eagle Rock)
Format: 7-inch, 400 pressed (150 in white jacket)

On its MySpace profile, NYC by way of San Diego trio The Anasazis sites its influences as "nuggets, pebbles, and stuff like that," which is about right. The band's short songs (four fit onto this release) range from vintage-sounding psychedelic punk to vintage-sounding punky psychedelia, and that's not a problem. With no bass in the mix, singers/guitarists Chris Rosi and Chris Eck, accompanied by drummer Lucas Blankartz, carve out a tinny, slack-filled space where simple vocal harmonies and easy guitar solos reign supreme. A solid fourth release from young upstart label I Hate Rock N' Roll recommended if you like, well, Nuggets, Pebbles, and stuff like that.

In the strange wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES reviews the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or other), believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Questions, submissions or suggestions? Email INCHES here.

Chris Martins

​Artist: Silversun Pickups
Title: Swoon Deluxe Package
Label: Dangerbird (Silver Lake)
Format: 180 gram 2LP (+ download), gatefold jacket, 12 x 12 lyric/photo booklet, T-shirt, lithograph of cover art, buttons, stickers, 3000 made

It's no surprise that Silversun Pickups has earned both the gravitas and fan base necessary to release something like this. Since its earliest days, the band was regarded as a leading light of the Silver Lake scene. Even on 2005's Pikul EP, SSPU's grungy pop music hinted at the existence of something grandly epic and, perhaps more importantly, it was actually sexy, a quality oft-overlooked in indie rock. "Understated yet filled with tension," to borrow the words of another, has become the band's MO over the years, and SSPU pushes that dynamic far as it can go on the excellent Swoon. Big arrangements flesh out these songs, but Brian Aubert's hissed vocals keep things low to the ground and, overall, consistently tasteful. Similarly, this deluxe package has all the bells and whistles, but was designed with an eye toward the archival rather than a quick cash-in.

In the strange wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES reviews the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or other), believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Last week, we checked out a Talking Heads classic alongside an entry from local heroes No Age (and more). This week, well, everything comes in editions of 500. It just worked out that way. Questions, submissions or suggestions? Email INCHES here.

Chris Martins

​Artist: Lambo
Title: "Computer Bagel" b/w "My Red Volvo"
Label: Flux Capacitor (Mt. Washington)
Format: 7-inch, 500 pressed

If you haven't heard of Flux Capacitor Records, be not dissuaded. It's merely the third in a series of one-off, 45-releasing labels started by Stones Throw CEO Peanut Butter Wolf (we previously covered the Dâm-Funk 7-inch on Circle Star). Lambo, too, is an oddity of sorts -- a goofball lothario whose stated object of affection is, well, a "Computer Bagel." We're not exactly sure how one digitizes a baked good, but some semblance of sense is attained when Lambo fires up the gratuitous AutoTune to croon over a jazzy, synth-slathered break. The novelty wears a little thin when he switches his focus to "[his] Red Volvo," but the A-side racks up a high point when Lambo bridges "Computer Love" to "California Love" (to the Jewish snack) with the line, "Shake, shake it, Bagel."

In the unpredictable wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many (with delicious irony) as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES seeks not only to review the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or otherwise), but to pay due to those who continue to tend the flame, believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Last week, we featured new releases from Samiyam, Fool's Gold, Now-Again, and Inca Ore. This week's crop comes from a likewise boundary-pushing group of music-makers. Submissions or suggestions? Email us.

Chris Martins

​Artist: Talking Heads
Label: Rhino/Warner (Burbank)
Title: 77
Format: LP, 180 gram vinyl (remastered), pressing not limited

Rhino's 180-gram remastering of this monumental debut has been out for some number of months, but is there ever a bad time to talk about Talking Heads? The album 77 was released in the year '77, and it rightly encapsulated the frenetic energy of New York at the time. Art school was out for summer (for ever), and the students were running wild, injecting punk's bustle with bristling intellect, sharp style and musical ideas from distant shores. David Byrne and his distinguished crew had yet to link up with Eno, so 77 remains a raw and unslowed expression of their nascent greatness. It should come as no surprise that in a world where bands like Dirty Projectors and Animal Collective are rising stars, this album feels just as relevant as ever.

In the unpredictable wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many (with delicious irony) as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES seeks not only to review the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or otherwise), but to pay dap to those who continue to tend the flame, believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Last week, we covered new music from Pelican, James Pants, Gold Robot Records and Foot Village with 60 Watt Kid. This week... well, read on. Suggestions? Email us.

Chris Martins

​Artist: various
Label: Now-Again Records (Mt. Washington)
Title: Forge Your Own Chains: Heavy Psychedelic Ballads And Dirges, 1968 - 1974
Format: 2xLP (+ bonus 45), gatefold jacket

Wow. Now-Again owner (and Stones Throw general manager) Eothen "Egon" Alapatt has outdone himself with this, a pan-global sampling of some of the rarest, most collector-sought psychedelia culled from music's funkiest seven years. Each of the 15 songs spread across these four sides is a bona fide show-stopper, from the wailing gospel soul of Cleveland's Sensational Saints to the graceful psych of South Korea's Shin Jung Hyun And The Men, over to the kaleidoscopic Iranian sounds of Kourosh Yadhmaei and on to the strange Thai pop of T.Zchiew And The Johnny. Egon himself is a dogged vinyl fiend, and with Forge Your Own Chains he does the unthinkable (and yet oh-so appreciated), unlocking these long-crated gems for the rest of us to enjoy. Accompanied by a heartfelt and thoroughly worthwhile set of liner notes, this is an essential purchase, on wax, CD or (gasp) MP3. Full tracklisting, song snippets and more info here.

In the unpredictable wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many (with delicious irony) as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES seeks not only to review the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or otherwise), but to pay dap to those who continue to tend the flame, believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Last week, we focused exclusively on local indie, Manimal Vinyl. This week marks the return of the regular column, with two entries from San Fran-based imprints (featuting L.A. artists, of course), lots of love for size "Small" records, and an exclusive video debut from this city's own shout-and-drum ensemble, Foot Village. Dig in! Submissions or suggestions? Email us.

San Francisco upstart Gold Robot Records has already played host to a surprising spate of talent, from Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, who dropped a likewise limited 7-inch there last year, to promising L.A. transplants Railcars. The label's first compilation showcases its more beat-oriented side. The "A" features a slow-burbler from Anticon associate/ Restiform Bodies beatsmith Bomarr alongside a more upbeat electro number by PDX mixtapist and Audio Dregs recording artist Copy. On the flip, their grooves visible through that rich pumpkin-orange wax, are this set's true gems: a moody psychedelic rap piece by Meanest Man Contest (whose Eriksolo is L.A.-based), and a warm instrumental jam from Roman Ruins, who moonlights as Beach House's touring drummer.

In the unpredictable wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many (with delicious irony) as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES seeks not only to review the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or otherwise), but to pay dap to those who continue to tend the flame, believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros. Submissions or suggestions? Email us. Find previous INCHES here.

This week, in honor of the second annual Manimal Festival taking place this weekend at Pappy And Harriet's Pioneertown Palace (out in Morongo Valley), INCHES is focusing on one of our favorite L.A. labels, Manimal Vinyl. Home to exceptional releases from round-the-way acts like Hecuba, Rainbow Arabia, and Alexandra Hope -- as well as from farther-flung ground-breakers like New Mexico's Rio En Medio and Brighton's Bat For Lashes -- Manimal consistently impresses with a well-curated catalog that freely mixes stylishness and experimentalism. Below you'll find an brief interview with label founder Paul Beahan as well as a few of INCHES' favorite releases from the label, including Manimal's inaugural pressing, a Chapin Sisters/Winter Flowers split.

Chris Martins

​Warpaint's Exquisite Corpse 12-inch EP, sky-and-clouds vinyl, 100 pressed
Warpaint - "Elephants" (MP3) | Due out October 6.

In the unpredictable wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many (with delicious irony) as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES seeks not only to review the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or otherwise), but to pay dap to those who continue to tend the flame, believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Submissions or suggestions? Email us. Find previous installations of INCHES here.

Chris Martins

​Artist: Wallpaper
Label: Eenie Meenie (West Hollywood)
Title: Doodoo Face
Format: LP (+ download card), "fireworks glasses," 500 pressed

They've soundtracked our most viral fast food inclinations. They've repudiated Jay-Z's "Death Of Autotune" by pitch-shifting Hova himself. They've declared "booty tweet" the "new booty call." After a rich few months of Internet exploitation and four years of slowly building before that, Oakland's satire-loving Wallpaper duo has dropped its debut LP via Eenie Meenie. Noobs may be surprised to find that while an off-kilter humor courses throughout -- and Ricky Reed's lyrics surely exemplify an exaggerated love of wealth/women/wine -- Doodoo Face is a stylish set of bona fide bangers with more than a few dark corners to explore. It's gritty and glitzy, high concept and lowbrow -- sentiment echoed perfectly by the album art, which is indisputably at its best in 12-inch format. Included is a set of prismatic paper glasses to enhance the viewing experience.

In the unpredictable wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many (with delicious irony) as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES seeks not only to review the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or otherwise), but to pay dap to those who continue to tend the flame, believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Submissions or suggestions? Email us.

Chris Martins

​

Artist: The Widow Babies
Label: olFactory Records (Downtown)
Title: Jet Packs
Format: LP (+ download card), clear vinyl, screen-printed B-side, 500 pressed

These local youngsters may worship at the throne of The Minutemen (their concept-heavy debut EP features song titles like "Mike Watt Created The Universe With A Bass Solo"), but it might be easier to imagine The Widow Babies as Abe Vigoda fronted by the helium-voiced Daniel Smith, or Les Savvy Fav with Marnie Stern at the helm. Music and lyrics both are bright and sharp - involving playful storytelling over quick-paced African-tinged surf punk - allowing the band's first full-length, Jet Pack, to move lithely through its 12 songs (the thirteenth track is an über-cute "thank you" to various folks in the scene, including The Smell/olFactory Records head Jim Smith). Yet promising as this album is, nothing beats the record itself - a clear plate whose blank B-side is screen-printed with a large tribal rattlesnake chasing a female Zulu warrior (who sorta runs, flip-book-style, while the vinyl is spinning).

The Widow Babies - "Harp Of 1000 Strings" (MP3)
Purchase now via the olFactory web store.

In the unpredictable wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many (with delicious irony) as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES seeks not only to review the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or otherwise), but to pay dap to those who continue to tend the flame, believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Submissions or suggestions? Email us.

Chris Martins

​

In the unpredictable wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many (with delicious irony) as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES seeks not only to review the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or otherwise), but to pay dap to those who continue to tend the flame, believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Submissions or suggestions? Email us.

Chris Martins

​Artist: Wet Hair
Label: Not Not Fun
Title: Glass Fountain
Format: LP (+ poster), lavender marble vinyl, 400 pressed

It makes sense that Iowa City duo Wet Hair would find its way to Not Not Fun Records. The Eagle Rock label likes it soulful and sludgy, and Glass Fountain is as prone to hazy, clanging organ-fueled grind as it is ambient expeditions into spacey tape edits. Most often, Shawn Reed's muffled Ian Curtis croon is buttressed by old drum machine loops and a Silver Apples-like appreciation for the weirder intersections of analog electronics and the human voice. And most often, that's a winning mix. Wet Hair's eccentricities thankfully extend to designing album art as well (the group's long mastered the cassette form), and here, those messy collagist tendencies culminate in luxe swirling lavender.

In the unpredictable wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many (with delicious irony) as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES seeks not only to review the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or otherwise), but to pay dap to those who continue to tend the flame, believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Ideas or suggestions? Email us.

Chris Martins

​Artist: Bygones
Label: Sargent House
Title: by-
Format: 12-inch (+ download card), yellow vinyl, 1000 pressed

Supergroups are a dime a dozen these days. Power trios are passé, and perhaps that's what's inspired the coupling rampage that Hella's Zach Hill has been on of late: he's pioneering a new format - the megaduo. The hyper-aggressive drummer has paired with Marnie Stern, Scott Herren, Rob Crow, and Christopher Willits to name but a few of his still-fresh projects, and Bygones sees him joining Nick Reinhart (guitarist and singer from NorCal prog demons Tera Melos) for an album's worth of high-octane, sinewy math rock.

In the unpredictable wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many (with delicious irony) as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES seeks not only to review the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or otherwise), but to pay dap to those who continue to tend the flame, believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Last time, INCHES featured another installment of "Local Revolutions" (exclusively L.A. acts on L.A. imprints). This week marks the debut of the column's standard format: reviews of hot-off-the-lathe SoCal vinyl with a few bonuses to boot. Ideas? Email us.

Chris Martins

​Artist: Flying Lotus
Label: Warp Records
Title: L.A. EP 3 X 3
Format: 12-inch, 2000 pressed

A year on from the release of his stunning second album, Los Angeles, Flying Lotus is still at the center of a small galaxy abuzz. L.A. EP 3 X 3 is the final entry in a trio of very limited extended-players whose function was essentially (and quite welcomely) extending the life of their long-playing forerunner. This seven-track installment (two new pieces, five remixes/remakes) is the most ambient piece of the puzzle yet, proving that as things get hotter, FlyLo just affects a deeper chill.

In the unpredictable wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many (with delicious irony) as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES seeks not only to review the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (one populated by many indies and some well-intentioned majors), but to pay dap to those who continue to tend the flame, believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros.

Last week, INCHES focused on local labels releasing local music, spotlighting artist, imprint and product in one fell swoop. We continue this week with recent releases by five more L.A.-area artists on five more L.A.-area labels. Suggestions? Email us.

SPECIAL: LOCAL REVOLUTIONS (cont.)

Chris Martins

​Artist: Mayer Hawthorne And The County
Label: Stones Throw Records (Mt. Washington)
Title: Just Ain't Gonna Work Out
Format: 7-inch, clear red heart-shaped vinyl, 2000 pressed

You'd be hard-pressed to find a catchier soul single in, say, the last 30 years, than Mayer Hawthorne's "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out." This bittersweet ode to love's coulda's and woulda's rings true not only in the universal simplicity of the message, but in the tribute paid to Hawthorne's greatest influences: Smokey Robinson, Curtis Mayfield, and Holland-Dozier-Holland. Never mind the fact that the L.A.-transplant, 29 and bespectacled, grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and that he's quite noticeably Caucasian. What matters is Hawthorne is a gifted singer, producer and multi-instrumentalist who breathes a just-perceptible hip-hop-ness into his vintage tunes.

In the unpredictable wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many (with delicious irony) as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES seeks not only to review the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (one populated by many indies and some well-intentioned majors), but to pay dap to those who continue to tend the flame, believing that good music deserves much more than a handful of ones and zeros. This week: Five recent releases by five L.A.-area artists on five L.A.-area labels. Suggestions? Email us.

SPECIAL: LOCAL REVOLUTIONS

Chris Martins

​Artist: Mika Miko
Label: Post Present Medium (Hollywood)
Title: We Be Xuxa
Format: LP (+ newsprint poster, download card), 1000 pressed

Mika Miko is no stranger to the Weekly readership. The Valley-bred party-punk quintet ("all-girl" until the recent addition of drummer Seth Densham) is one of the archetypal bands associated with Downtown's lo-fi mecca, The Smell, which makes the group's placement on Post Present Medium an organic one. PPM is owned by No Age's Dean Spunt -- founded in 2002 after he won a collision-related settlement against a Backstreet Boy (no joke) -- and specializes in all things noisy, punky and pretty. MM's recently released sophomore LP, We Be Xuxa, does well at capturing the live energy that has electrified so many house parties and made the band famous in the first place.