Brothels & Ukuleles: the perfect union?

I love tiny little instruments, and there's nothing like a quality whorehouse. Thursday, pixie uke-leer Janet Klein is playing with her Parlour Boys at The Bordello, which just re-opened downtown. You may have been to the spot in its former life when it was Little Pedro's, a dark little joint with a taxidermied polar bear suspended from from the ceiling by bike chains.


A few months ago, they closed and gutted the place, and its current incarnation is modeled after a lush, velvet-surfaced brothel, complete with a bed tucked in a wall nook.

Janet Klein will be performing vintage tunes on her little ukulele. But from what I understand, there will be no real hookers.




Miss Janet Klein

Buffalo Roam put vid for "Yup, Yes, Yeah" online

Click here to view

Eastern Conference Champions take the ring tonight

There's just something about a champion that makes you want to w00t! in victory. The nebulously dubbed, indie rock trio Eastern Conference Champions storm the Silverlake Lounge tonight, putting Mondays in a headlock for the month of February. Rumor has it that Castledoor, who open tonight but share a co-residency next month with Buffalo Roam, are pretty bitchin' too. Maybe Monday doesn't suck so much after all.

Castledoor are Co-residents with BUFFALO ROAM in March at Silverlake Lounge

check castledoor's video here

Softlightes - Heart Made of Sound

Softlightes CD Release is being held February 9th at The Fold in Tangier

Pity Party Wraps Up Residency, Happy Hollows Make Me Love Them

I dutifully attended the last show of the Pity Party's monthlong residency, because plainly: I loff them. Bizarre and electro-minimalist, they sound like the synth-y love baby of Devo and Metric. Also, I enjoy watching Maurice Robert's headband wilt slowly down his face until it falls over his eyes and he yanks it off in a flustered huff.

What I was not expecting Monday was to fall headlong in lust for the Happy Hallows, whose singer/guitarist Sarah Negahdari (dressed in white knee socks, short shorts and a billowing Edwardian blouse) screamed and shook epileptically. She thrashed her moppy bob about in fits and spasms, and every time, it fell back exactly in place, a wonder to behold. Her vocals range from melodically poppy to bursts of hooting to red faced screaming, and their track "Vietnam" featured on the Pity Party's complementary sampler, is now on continuous repeat on my Ipod. New girl crush: confirmed.

Vintagey Riffs and Celebrity Lurkers

Earl Greyhound played the Silverlake Lounge last night, and operatives tell me that it was an agoraphobe's nightmare. A line snaked out the door, and inside was thick with humans waiting for some serious rock to occur.

I caught them Tuesday night at El Cid, and the very first thing that struck me was the sight of percussive legend Ricc Sheridan's bass drum. (And his canyon of an ass crack as he bent over setting up.)

The sparkle green Ludwig kick is larger than my kitchen table, rumoured to be 97 inches in circumference, and a girl standing next to me took cellphone snapshots of Sheridan sitting down, as she giddily shreiked: "Oh my god, that thing is as tall as his boobs!" All muscle and afro (and rocking indoor sunglasses) Sheridan pounded with a ferocity that bordered on vengeful. It was violently, rhythmically gorgeous. (Aforementioned cell phone shot from the show.)


Kamara Thomas on bass fell to her knees a few times, and howled echoey back-up vocals. Tall and lankly Matt Whyte took the lead, with some serious guitar solo work.

As for last night's Silverlake Lounge show, it was peppered with Eastside luminaries: Autolux's Greg Edwards, Sia, Sharon from the Raveonettes and Giant Drag's Annie Hardy were all in attendance. Nine Black Alps, in town recording with Dave Sardy, also took in the show.

And we JUST heard that Giovanni Ribisi was caught sneaking through in the back door. We was neither booted out, nor hounded for autographs. Everyone behaved.


Giovanni gets down.

Aftermath of a Sonic Boom

Sure-- it was over a week ago, but good things warrant heralding, even after the fact.

Sonic Boom who consists soley of Pete Kember of Spaceman 3- played a psychedelic, experimental set at Silverlake Lounge on January 30th, and folks are still yammering about The Awesome that ensued.

Like a switchboard operator, he mastered over a bay of analog circuitry, stabbing cables in and out to create signals which were fed directly into the PA systems. No microphones. No computers. Pure spacey, throbbing noise.

175 people stood in stunned silence watching, and I'm so pissed I wasnt one of them. Hindsight is a bitch.