echoplex Archive

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Bootlegged: Aloe Blacc and The Grand Scheme @ Echoplex, Los Angeles 12/3/10

I don’t know what was more surprising – the fact that Soul music is being revived in an age of autotune and chillwave indie music or the fact that most of the crowd at the Echoplex was of the decidedly hipster variety.

Scratch that, it’s Echo Park, of course it’s going to be full of hipsters.

But the neo-soul movement is definitely in effect with artists like Mayer Hawthorne gaining a sizable audience. It’s not surprising that both he and Aloe Blacc are on LA-based independent label, Stones Throw.

You may know Mr. Blacc from the theme to HBO’s How To Make It In America. It’s one of the more memorable introduction sequences in recent television history. His 1 hour set at the Echoplex didn’t disappoint either. I’m no expert on soul music, but I had a great time at Aloe’s show. With an entertaining and talented backing band, The Grand Scheme, Aloe Blacc played cuts from not only his own album, Good Things, but also injected quite a few covers into his set as well. It’s as if he knew his mainly white audience needed to hear some comfort songs to help them ease into the genre. Songs like Hall & Oates’ “Maneater” or Green Day’s “Basket Case.” He also did a Velvet Underground song and a haunting cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.”

Check out the Green Day cover clip and another video after the break.

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Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti 7/09/2010 @ Echoplex, Los Angeles

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti is perhaps one of the more “buzzworthy” bands so far this year, garnering a “9.0” review from Pitchfork and landing on many other music blogs’ “Best of 2010 so far” lists. At $15 for a ticket including fees we’re in the impulse zone where there’s not a substantial risk even if you’re not a diehard fan of the band.

I’m all about seeing live music, especially at affordable prices, so I gave it a shot. I had given Before Today a couple of listens and while it didn’t “wow” me as much as the “Indie Blogosphere,” it also didn’t repulse me either. “Round and Round” has some pretty infectious melodies contained within and I will admit to waking up some mornings with the song in my head.

Some bands are just not meant to do live shows.

Ariel Pink cavorted around stage like a lifelong wino in an outfit that can best be described as a cross between Mario’s red overalls and Borat’s one-piece swimsuit. His voice cracked more times than an 18-year old going through puberty. Their set sounded lifeless and amorphous. None of the Before Today’s eclectic lo-fi charm came across on stage.

I stayed through each successive song with hopes of finally hearing the performance that would redeem the band. After about 45 minutes or so, it became apparent that this was never going to happen. I cut my losses and headed up to Two Boots for some delicious pizza.

Hey, for a $15 investment it wasn’t any worse than walking out of another shitty summer movie.

Disclosure: I was about three scotches in by the time Ariel Pink took the stage, so I had the musical equivalent of “beer goggles” going for me. Despite this I could still tell that the band was putting on a forgettable show.

I snapped a video of “Round and Round” in which you can hear this for yourself below:

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More Thom Yorke Videos From The Echoplex Show

Thanks to my retardedly slow internet, it’s taken me a few days to get my HD videos from last Friday’s Thom Yorke show at the Echoplex up.

For your enjoyment (more videos after the break):

Harrowdown Hill

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Thom Yorke with New Band 10-02-09 @ Echoplex Los Angeles

thom yorke solo echoplex los angeles 10-02-09

Maybe years of concert going in Los Angeles have made me a jaded cynic, but I have to admit some trepidation when I intially heard that Thom Yorke would be playing the ~700 person capacity Echoplex in the heart of LA’s hipster haven.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been to several Radiohead shows across the country.  I’ve met and spoken with Thom himself.  I know firsthand how great of a stage performer this awkward looking Englishman can be.  It’s just that… well, solo albums from celebrated frontmen usually end up being a disappointing affair.  I wasn’t a huge fan of The Eraser, the album came off to me a bit flat and soulless.  Plus, how in the world could this new band work out?  Nigel I can understand, but Flea??  Is he going to come out on stage in nothing but a tube sock, and start slappin’ da bass I Love You Man style?  I was worried the show would degenerate into an 80 minute masturbatory jam session with famous musicians.

Fortunately, Thom and the boys proved I was a complete douche for even entertaining those thoughts.
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