Black and Gold videophied

Sam Sparro's great song "Black and Gold" got the treatment it deserves in this new video.

Ladies' Month at The Fold

As I was perusing The Fold calendar for the upcoming month, I was struck by how many kick-ass ladies are set to grace LA stages in the coming weeks. This is awesome in the best, most non-feminist way possible! Below is a sampling of various chicks scheduled to bring the rock and use it in the coming weeks:

If the term "girl power" had some actual edge and menace to it, rather than being so firmly entrenched in the cheese of the 90s pop realm, VON IVA would be its physical incarnation. These ladies will mow you down with their ultra-powerful, jagged electro-rock. And after that, if you can handle it, JESSIE EVANS follows it up with her crazy jazz/punk fusion. Check out both on 1/30 at Silverlake Lounge.

CECI BASTIDA was one of the first women to make serious inroads into the Latin rock scene. At the age of 15, she joined Tijuana NO as a lead vocalist, keyboardist and songwriter and became one of the first women to rise in the ranks of Latin rock. Tijuana NO was one of Mexico's most important bands of the 1990s. Enough said. Ceci Bastida plays at Bordello on 2/7.

In keeping with the current pro-femme vibe, the spectacular ENTRANCE BAND are playing a series of three shows at Silverlake Lounge in February. Paz Lenchantin is their bass player. For those not in the know, Paz first melted faces as a member of A Perfect Circle, and then slayed in Zwan. The Entrance Band play February 7th, 14th and 21st. As if you need further incentive to attend, WARPAINT pitch in with their utterly captivating post-rock ethearility on the 14th. Jeez is right.

THEE EMERGENCY have just announced a show at Silverlake Lounge on March 4th. By all accounts, this band's adrenaline-infused, Detroit-blues rock pummeling of a live show is quite the sight to behold.

Finally, New Zealand folk-electro/new-wave-pop genius BACHELORETTE playing a total of three shows in March: 3/5 at Bordello, 3/6 at Silverlake Lounge, and 3/7 at El Cid. Be sure to check her quirky, dream-like pop gems on her first foray to these shores...

Show availability for dudes is, what can i say, "limited" right now. Just kidding. Go check out our full calendar to see what's going on.

Shark Aid this Sunday 1/13 at Tangier

A Benefit for Aaron Finley - $10 donation
OLD TOY TRAINS 7p
PINK MOCHI 8p
PATRICK PARK 9p
CHARLIE WADHAMS 10p
BLACK BEAR 11p

In 2006, there were 61 shark attacks in the entire world. Some say being attacked may be lucky because of the rarity of shark attacks. I'm going out on a limb here and guessing that LA musician/sound engineer Aaron Finley wouldn't agree with that, though. Aaron got munched on on October 29th near Wailea Beach, in Maui. The good news is that Aaron came out of it alive, and still has all his limbs. The bad news is that he now has some pretty substantial medical costs that he cannot charge to his attacker. We're talking tens of thousands of $$$$$ here. And that, my friends, is where you come in. Pink Mochi, Patrick Park and Charlie Wadhams are all joining forces to raise money for the "Friends of Aaron Finley Fund.”

As if you need further incentive to contribute to this good cause, here's an account of what happened in Aaron's own words:
"I was thinking it's so nice to be out here in the ocean relaxing," said Finley, "Then... I felt something hit my leg really hard and then turned and saw this big gray thing swimming away and realized I'd just been bit," Finley, 32, said from his hospital bed in Wailuku, where a 6-inch, half-moon-shaped gash on his left calf served as a reminder of the encounter. "It felt like a wave knocked me into a rock."

Enough said. See you on sunday!

The Entrance Band to blow minds, speakers in February

The spectacular Entrance Band will be performing a series of three shows at Silverlake Lounge in February! Although in this case, it won't be so much a show as a public mind-altering session on a mass scale. LA Weekly explains why February 7th, 14th and 21st should be ritualistically engraved into your calendar right now:

“[Entrance] are thoroughly guns-blazing, balls-out rock n' roll. How such a full-throttle wailing voice can come out of such a slim young man is a mystery, but the ferocity with which Guy Blakeslee ripped into songs managed to get me head-banging unconsciously — I didn't realize what I was doing until I hit the guy behind me.This group is now going to be the beacon of hope I firmly point to whenever I hear a naysayer mention there's nothing really impressive these days.”



The beacon of good taste known as LA Record will be co-presenting these shows. In their infinite wisdom, they already featured The Entrance Band on their cover a while back. You can read the excellent interview in its entirety here.

To recap, the dates are February 7th, 14th and 21st. These shows will likely sell out, so best get on that immediately. Advance tickets are available at InTicketing.

Deadly Syndrome about to become famous, viral-style

The new Zune ad campaign has paired edgy visual artists, including againstallodds and Digital Kitchen with hip soundtracks. And to good effect, I might add. The Youtube video for 'Intergalactic Swap Meet' featuring The Deadly Syndrome has so far been viewed almost FIFTEEN THOUSAND TIMES in one week. Jeez is right. Clicky clicky below:



Amazing! Microsoft is trying to convince us they are no longer the exclusive domain of nerds in cardigans! And, with the emphasis of Zune's campaign being on interactivity and sharing, this video is right on track with the - hopefully - imminent goodwill and positive vibes of the holidays. Awww.

The Deadly Syndrome are also performing at the Christmas Sweater Festival on 12/14 at Crash Mansion, alongside Eskimohunter, The Happy Hollows, The Mae-Shi, and The Pity Party. You know what to do. Don't screw this up.

Attn: No-Quoters

"No-quoter:" person who repeatedly responds to emails without including the original message in their reply.

We here at The Fold have recently noticed a huge increase in no-quoting tendencies, and now the time has come that we must say something. Consider this a friendly heads-up that will make all of our lives easier, increase the speed and efficiency of show-booking, and minimize the potential for miscommunication! It'll be so great! We like to be solution-oriented over here.

What we're saying is- if we ask you a specific question, and three days later you reply with "That sounds awesome!"/"No way, man!"/"Cool, keep me posted!"... Basically, we'll have no idea what you're referring to. So, you know, help US help YOU. Thanks. The Fold loves you! So, so much!

Bachelorette comes to LA

If New Zealand wasn't one of the least accessible places on the planet, and if their musical output in the last couple of years hadn't been hijacked by unfortunate Datsuns clones, we might have heard of Annabel Alpers and her project Bachelorette sooner. But we didn't, so now we're making up for lost time with excessive displays of over-the-top affection. Check out this neat video (by Louise Clifton) for Bachelorette's song "Complex History Of A Dying Star":

See? Bachelorette rules. There's more music on her Myspace Page. Bachelorette graces Los Angeles in 2008 on March 5th at Bordello, March 6th at Silverlake Lounge, and March 7th at El Cid.

And speaking of cool girls in cool bands in cool videos, here's a new nugget of pop goodness from The Bird And The Bee:

Christmas Sweater Festival! Woo!

Listen up champ. We know you're about to be inundated with a near-unmanageable stream of stupid Christmas "parties" in the coming weeks. You will feel somehow obligated to attend at least some of them, in spite of the coma-inducing tedium most of them will involve. So, since we're all about catering to YOUR needs, we're providing you with a kick-ass event that you'll actually be stoked to attend. It's OK, you can thank us later.

Here's the deal: the show takes place on 12/14, at Crash Mansion, 1024 S. Grand Avenue, Downtown LA. There are five bands, rad giveaways, and NO HEADLINERS. Each band will play two 15-minute sets throughout the night, like so:

9:00p The Deadly Syndrome
9:20p The Mae-Shi
9:40p Happy Hollows
10:00p The Pity Party
10:20p Eskimohunter
10:40p Eskimohunter
11:00p The Pity Party
11:20p Happy Hollows
11:40p The Mae-Shi
12:00a The Deadly Syndrome

As if you need further convincing, we'll be donating all proceeds to Doctors Without Borders. And that, my friends, is why the $5 cover is a MINIMUM donation. Should you be feeling more generous, higher-priced tickets are also available for purchase. Click here to buy advance tickets.