[contextly_auto_sidebar id="xC6gkwoxkwKwvRaOHnXwiWWd8B0gSpwd"] FOR a band known early on for playing downbeat folk songs and spending a lot of time onstage tuning their instruments, Glasgow's Belle & Sebastian have become one of the most reliably engaging, even restorative, live bands on the planet. Last night's show at the theater at LA's newish Ace Hotel was so full of joy and great music … [Read more...]
Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood”
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="GoFGOT4Q6EPfBqiYMIbBn4gpMbiXLSMV"] IT would give me a contrarian thrill if I could come out against what may be the best-reviewed movie of the year. But Boyhood, which I finally caught up with, struck me as the most profound film I've seen in years. The New York Times review, by my friend Manohla Dargis, caught a hint of the movie's poetry. The realism is … [Read more...]
The Pixies and Cat Power at the Hollywood Bowl
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="nc1kP0QNXqToOtKKMBYEWF1PA492NXRw"] WELL, the Bowl's 2014 season ends with a show a lot of us had looked forward to for a long time. The Pixies are a band from the George H.W. Bush administration -- from before the indie-rock boom inaugurated by Nirvana's Nevermind -- and they've been tighter and more taught since their reunion. Their Bowl debut, then, did not take … [Read more...]
The Pleasures of Waiting
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="V6NmBVYqb2qdo87yWjeHN0SrNINzHk4V"] NO, this hasn't become an abstinence-themed blog while you were napping. But I'm struck today by a piece about the joys of waiting for culture, whether it's a weekly music newspaper or the new singles or LPs that those publications served to announce or assess. No matter what kind of culture you care about, you'll find something you … [Read more...]
Musician Dean Wareham Raves on About Culture Crash the Book
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="vyqP11F1681n3YcQlEIIXhqmzlNi3MAa"] ONE of my favorite indie rock musicians -- a member of Galaxie 500, Luna, and Dean & Britta -- has endorsed my upcoming book. Here's what he says: I read Scott Timberg’s pieces every week without fail. It’s great to see his book Culture Crash debunk the mumbo jumbo about the long tail, file-sharing, free information, and … [Read more...]
Neutral Milk Hotel at the Hollywood Bowl
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="hoQprz2ypgmwVraWLQKLkTyU9PmJUJUE"] WHAT would the world look like if a bomb wiped out everyone who wasn't a Gen Xer? A lot like the crowd that filed into the Hollywood Bowl last night. I kept telling myself that we were a very small generation as I saw the rows of empty seats for a show by the Breeders and Neutral Milk Hotel -- both cult bands who only released two … [Read more...]
Elvis Costello at the Hollywood Bowl
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="yoxDRYe0pvcibitrbAUITNZnhe94ChmB"] OVER the weekend, the former Angry Young Man played the Bowl, alongside indie piano man Ben Folds, both accompanied by the LA Philharmonic. I'm split on the show. Because both artists had equal billing, Costello had to squeeze a career that goes back to the 1970s into an hourlong set. It was too short, and his syncing up with the … [Read more...]
The Wild and Romantic Robyn Hitchcock
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="xANv3Jjm5ljwdEVoQbaPVK2EMGMYSFMx"] ONE of the most unexpectedly delightful records of the year is the new LP by psychedelic Brit Robyn Hitchcock. The former Soft Boy has been moving in a more romantic and understated direction lately, but the album -- produced by Joe Boyd, known for his work with Britfolk gods and R.E.M. -- took me by surprise. It's a low-key … [Read more...]
An Interview with the Allah-Las
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="lc08pyxv3eSerUA4sZEPFYeA0ka8ZMiw"] ONE of the best bands going these days is an LA group who met at Amoeba Music on Sunset. Their records sound like lost tracks from the West Coast garage collection Nuggets. And unlike a lot of revivalists, these guys can put it across live and make the music sound not retro but somehow timeless. Your humble blogger corresponded … [Read more...]
Will Indie Film Survive?
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="u8nyNEUGiw9T3t2MS4otkepc3HaoApPt"] ONE of the casualties of our current cultural situation is the erosion of the middle -- the middle class, the midlist author, the middlebrow, and the mid-budget film. Independent film, with its interest in boundary pushing and risk-taking, may not seem to belong in that company, but it's vulnerable to all the same forces. The New … [Read more...]