Vampire Weekend- Giving Up The Gun
With Vampire Weekend member Chris Baio on tour for his solo project Baio, and lead sing Ezra Koenig most recently performing at a Bernie Sanders rally in Iowa, it felt like a good time to revisit one of the band’s best videos. This one is from their 2010 album Contra. It features RZA, Joe Jonas, Jake Gyllenhaal and Lil Jon and was directed by The Molloys.
Baio is at the El Rey Theatre tonight 2/4/16.
Baio- Endless Rhythm
Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (2/4-2/2/7/16)-
Thursday
Baio is playing at the El Rey Theatre with Elohim
For the third in LACMA’s program series focusing on Frank Gehry’s three areas of interest—art, science, and music- the architect’s process and collaboration during the planning and construction of Walt Disney Concert Hall will be the focus. Gehry will be in conversation with two people with whom he worked closely during the years leading up to the hall’s opening: Esa-Pekka Salonen, former music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Deborah Borda, who came to Los Angeles in 2000 as LA Phil president and chief executive officer. They will be joined by LACMA’s senior curator of modern art, Stephanie Barron, curator of the Frank Gehry exhibition. This conversation will take place off site at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. ($25)
The New York–based art critic Ben Davis is speaking at Hammer Museum for his first book, 9.5 Theses on Art and Class (free)
Charlie Jane Anders, editor-in-chief of io9.com, is reading from her debut novel, All the Birds in the Sky at Skylight Books
Friday
Sleepless: The Music Center After Hours is back with DJs, art installations, musical performances, and more from 11:30 pm- 3am. Reservations are closed but tickets will be released for walk-ups after midnight
First Fridays returns to the Natural History Museum with music, lectures and cocktails- this time with music from The Hood Internet and Boulevards
Friday and Saturday
From Berlin to LA is a free electronic music festival taking place at various venues around LA. It also includes panels and workshops about DJing or digital production all related to Berlin or Berlin- influenced electronic music.
Saturday
The team who created the teahouse in Griffith Park will be showering flower petals for Petal Drop LA in the alley between two 1910 theaters on Broadway between 5th and 6th
To celebrate Black History Month, WordTheatre is presenting And All That Jazz an evening of jazz themed stories, poetry and music, at The Hall of Liberty in Forest Lawn Cemetery. Several famous actors are performing in the production. (free)
Ebony Repertory Theatre is having a free film screening of An Evening of Dance on Film, which focuses on early dancers of color in film with a talk afterwords with jazz archivist Mark Cantor
San Gabriel is having a Lunar New Year Party to celebrate the Year of the Monkey (free)
Lolipop Records is hosting a night at Teragram Ballroom with several of their bands performing including Mystic Braves, Corners and Peach Kelli Pop
Sunday (if you are not watching the Super Bowl)
The Rock n Roll Flea Market is at The Regent Theater downtown and you could go after a Boozy Brunch Bingo -$25 gets you bottomless mimosas, food and a cookie (or $40 for two people)
The monthly flea market at Pasadena City College is also this weekend (free)
Seu Jorge- Changes
There were rumors that Kanye might make an album of David Bowie covers, but there is already a great one that exists. Brazilian artist and actor (he was also in the excellent City of God), Seu Jorge, created Portuguese cover versions of several Bowie songs for the Wes Anderson film, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Several of the songs are in the film, while others are only on his album The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions Featuring Seu Jorge.
Story of the Running Wolf- Stratospheric
Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (1/28-1/31/16)-
Thursday
Story of the Running Wolf is opening for Parade of Lights at the Bootleg Theater
Artist Carlos Betancourt will be speaking and signing his book at Arcana Books in Culver City
Winter are playing at The Echo with Dante Elephante, Summer Twins, The Dream Ride and DJ Honey Power opening
The Soft Moon are playing at The Regent Theater
Holly Herndon is playing at the Teragram Ballroom
Thursday through Sunday
The LA Art Show is at the LA Convention Center- buy tickets online for $5 off $20
Friday
Depart Foundation is having a book release and signing for Marc Horowitz’s book Phillips Auction Catalog, at a McDonalds on Wilshire to stick with the juxtaposition of images of fast food and classic art pieces found in the book
Michelangelo Antonioni’s famous film Blow Up is playing at the Nuart Theatre
Friday through Sunday
Art Los Angeles Contemporary is back at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica- cheaper tickets still available on Goldstar
StARTup Art Fair is at the Highland Gardens Hotel in Hollywood and represents independent artists- cheaper tickets on Goldstar
Friday through Tuesday
Cinefamily Theater is having a David Bowie film marathon which includes- The Hunger (at midnight Friday), Labyrinth, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence and a tribute film to his work as an actor- Cracked Actor: Bowie on Film
Saturday
Museum Free-For-All-Day has free admission to many LA museums including MOCA, the Craft and Folk Art Museum, LACMA and more
Night on Broadway returns this year and features free entertainment and arts programming in 7 of Broadway’s historic theaters, an
on-street festival area featuring booths and pop-up shops from local businesses, and a main stage with bands that include Ozomatli and Aloe Blacc
Kitten is playing at the Fonda Theatre with Hunny & Olivver the Kid
Saturday and Sunday
Fabrik Expo, the sister show to Photo Independent premieres at Willow Studios downtown
The art fair at Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills returns for its third iteration
Sunday
In conjunction with her solo exhibitions at MOCA Pacific Design Center, and at the Hammer Museum, photographer Catherine Opie joins MOCA Chief Curator Helen Molesworth and Hammer Chief Curator Connie Butler for a conversation about the concepts of portraiture, gender, celebrity, and creativity at play in the artist’s photographs at the Hammer (free)
The bands Froth, Hott Mt, and Black Sea will incorporate at least two My Bloody Valentine songs each into their sets at The Echo for Part Time Punks’ My Bloody Valentine Nite
David Bowie- Playing Himself on Extras
David Bowie’s work as an actor varied throughout his career, from playing a vampire with Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon in The Hunger, to a goblin king in Jim Henson’s Labyrinth. But he also had a great sense of humor which can be seen in his cameo in Zoolander and this moment playing himself in Ricky Gervais’s Extras.
David Bowie- Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide (from the film Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars)
This video is footage from the documentary film of Bowie’s final concert as the stage persona Ziggy Stardust at the Hammersmith Odeon in July of 1973, and was directed by Donn Alan “D.A.” Pennebaker.
It’s been almost two weeks since David Bowie died and it’s still hard to believe he’s gone. A singer, songwriter, musician, producer, actor and fashion icon- he was an exceptional artist and innovator throughout his career.
His final album Blackstar was released two days before he died and the video below for Lazarus was released less than a week before that. It’s a stunning creative work made more poignant as he was clearly aware of his impending death while making it.
David Bowie’s legacy will live on in the artists he’s influenced, and those he will continue to influence in the years to come. He was an inspiration to so many, including myself. He will be missed, but we are lucky to have so much of his work to enjoy and discover.
Shigeto- Detroit Part 1
Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (1/21-1/24/16)-
Thursday
Giant Robot Biennale 4 at the Japanese American National Museum closes this weekend but today you can see it with free admission all day (last admission at 7:30pm)
Inspired by the ambient glow of Dan Flavin’s “monument” for V. Tatlin (1969), Monument is a yearlong series of performances by Los Angeles–based musicians and sound artists in the current installation of MOCA’s permanent collection. This week’s free performances are by Anenon (Brian Allen Simon) and $3.33 (Celia Rae Hollander)
New Yorker writer Larissa MacFarquhar will be reading from her book, Strangers Drowning: Grappling with Impossible Idealism, Drastic Choices and the Overpowering Urge to Help at Hammer Museum (free)
Friday
Chrome Sparks is at The Echo
designLAb, at the Pacific Design Center, celebrates its fifth year on Friday, January 22, from 5 to 9:30 PM with new art, architecture, design, sound and taste exhibitions as well as one-night only special performances (free)
All Them Witches are at The Roxy
Annuals are playing at The Silverlake Lounge along with Strange Hotel, The Knitts, Triptides and Eyes on the Shore
Friday through Sunday
PhotoLA is back at The Reef downtown. Cheaper tickets can still be found on Goldstar for Friday and Sunday
Saturday
There’s a newish flea market in Glassell Park called The Artsy Flea. $1 gets you in and there is free parking
The Aero Theatre is showing Lawrence of Arabia
The Egyptian Theatre is showing a double feature of Kurosawa films- Rashoman and Ikiru
Sunday
Shigeto is playing at The Echo with Groundislava opening
Gehry and Science, at LACMA, features a conversation between Frank Gehry and acclaimed scientist Arnold J. Levine, the second of the talks the museum is having in conjunction with the Gehry exhibition (free but standby only)
Art Catalogues at LACMA is having a discussion and book signing with artists The Haas Brothers and Liza Lou
Fishbone- Party At Ground Zero
This is the first single from Fishbone’s 1985 debut album Fishbone. The video was directed by Henry Selick who went on to later direct The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach and Coraline.
Fishbone are playing at The Roxy on Friday, 12/18/15.
Vince Staples- Señorita
Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (12/17-12/20/15)-
Thursday
Thee Oh Sees, Fuzz, and WAND are playing A Holiday Homeless Charity Event at Teragram Ballroom with proceeds going to LA Kitchen. It’s sold out, but there are always ways to find tix.
The Center for the Arts at Eagle Rock is hosting The Winter Solstice Sound Bath, which “offers audience members the opportunity to achieve a deep meditative state through the experience of pure sound” ($25)
For some different, less meditative sounds, EDM DJ Dillon Francis is at The Shrine with T-Pain, Valentino Khan, Anna Lunoe & Neo Fresco (or see him Friday with ILoveMakonnen)
Friday
Vince Staples is worth taking a trip to Santa Ana for, where he’ll be playing at The Observatory
At the Los Angeles Contemporary Archive (LACA) gallery they are having the opening for the exhibit Molybdomancy followed by a Holiday Party with Night Gallery which will have performances, DJs, and hot cider
Get in the holiday spirit with The Music Center’s free outdoor Holiday Sing-along (tickets are distributed to the line at 6pm)
J Fernandez is playing at the Bootleg Theater
Can’t get enough of Star Wars?- you can participate in Light Saber Battle LA 2015 in Pershing Square (if you have one- they have sold out) or just check it out (free)
Fishbone are playing at The Roxy
Pity Sex are at The Echo with Colleen Green and Eskimeaux
Friday and Saturday
At REDCAT, The Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance at CalArts is having its annual Winter Dance Concert
Saturday
Artists Risk and Axis are live painting from 3-5pm at Buckshot Gallery
Moving Units are playing at The Roxy
The Aero Theatre in Santa Monica has a holiday double feature showing of Elf and Bad Santa
The Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood is showing National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and Scrooged as its double feature
The Bots are at The Echo with Buttertones and Thee Commons
Sunday
Dan Harmon and Jeff B. Davis are hosting Harmontown at Nerdmelt in Hollywood
The Aero Theatre and the Egyptian Theatre are both showing holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life
All weekend
Check out the recreation of Seinfeld’s apartment on Melrose from 10am- 7pm (free)
Stone Temple Pilots- Trippin’ On A Hole In A Paper Heart
I was originally going to post this video in the coming weeks when Scott Weiland was supposed to play in Los Angeles. Sadly he passed away a week ago today (12/3/15).
This song is off Stone Temple Pilots third album Tiny Music…Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop which was released in 1996. The lyrics were written by Weiland and he also titled his 2011 autobiography Not Dead and Not for Sale.