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Steve Mackay of the Stooges Has Died at Age 66

Steve Mackay, saxophone player most known for his work with Iggy Pop and the Stooges, passed away yesterday, Oct 11th 2015 at age 66 in Daly City, California after battling complications from sepsis. Regarded as one of the most influential jazz rockers in last four decades, his involvement in the Stooges’ second album Fun House, and the ensuing collaborations he had with acts like Carnal Kitchen, Violent Femmes, Snakefinger, Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen, Smegma Zu, Andre Williams and others established him as an originator in the racy ways of rock ‘n roll sax—a tactic strongly utilized in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s by the No Wave bands of New York. During the 90s, a lot of the old rockers were either dead or staring down the barrel of middle-age burnout, and Steve Mackay’s profile wasn’t so hot. In fact, the music world thought him for dead. While Mackay took up residence in the Bay Area and worked as an electrician, authorities like MTV and Rolling Stone were writing on the Stooges biography pages that the sax player had died in the 1970s. A false story unknown in origin, but initially reported on by music journalist Nick

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The Bay to L.A.: Cahill Wessel Opening Launches Carlos Queso Gallery

The first time I saw Cahill Wessel IRL he was already zipping past me, skating down Alvarado, through the neglected tent city 101 underpass, probably picking up more beer for the show. The Faded Glory exhibit was an inaugural night for the Carlos Queso Gallery, starting things off right with psychedelic renderings.  The new art space is a true studio, like the shoeboxes we’re accustomed to living in, no more than maybe a few hundred square feet, making for intimate mingling that’s often lost to the cold spaces of larger galleries. There were sincere welcomes and good conversation as janky hipsters and shaggy gutterheads grabbed wine and beer from the cooler. Sharing the bill was artist Chris Rexroad, who not only holds a stake in the new gallery, but whose frisky collisions of 40 oz. Olde English, gold chains, and nature weaved in nicely with Wessel’s kitschy cartoon visions of tropical horror. Cahill Wessel showed back up carrying his skateboard in a loose, ratty t-shirt, skinny jeans, and a worn ‘Hawaii’ tourist trucker hat. Sipping beer and chain-smoking, he was all smiles, friendly and approachable, stoked on meeting new people. He and friends were crashing Airbnb-style. They raged at Los

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Kim and The Created Kick Off October Residency at The Echo

It’s October, the harvest blood moon has arrived, and it’s time to get weird! The first night of the Kim and The Created residency at the Echo was a vibrant, cosmological event, and things couldn’t have gotten weirder for a Monday night. Dancing to the always eclectic Kim House, Deap Vally, Regrettes, and even some midnight thrashing to Melted, there was no better way to usher in the new season. Everybody was floored by Regrettes—the new poster children for local teen garage rock. Formerly known as Pretty Little Demons, and comprised of Marlhy Murphy (drums/vocals) and Lydia Night (guitar/vocals), the power pop two-piece had such a rounded and self-possessed sound that I didn’t even miss the bass. Their clean 3 or 4 chord doo-wop ditties gave a genuine expression of young ennui that you can dance to. They had a magnetism that brought the bar to life. Nobody in that room was expecting anything out of that first act. It was a lethargic Monday, even among artsy burnouts with no 9-to-5 gigs, and on a school night these girls rocked an L.A. staple. Think Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains but not as agro. And to give an idea of

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Death Valley Girls at Lolipalooza shot by Taylor Wong

Death Valley Girls Drop New Limited 7″-Stream Death Valley Boogie

Death Valley Girls has something witchy for us this week. With what may be their most meta track yet, a new 7” is being released featuring the new single, “Death Valley Boogie”. From French label April 77, and distributed by Cobraside here in L.A., a limited press of 20 records was made, 15 of which will go on Death Valley Girls bandcamp store starting Wednesday, October 6th at 7:30. The remaining 5 will be sold during Sunday night’s show at Echoplex. Not ten seconds into “Death Valley Boogie” and it’s easy to see how it stands on its own. The intro riff is the real refrain of the song, like a hook right out of Poison Ivy’s tackle box. The distorted hums and drums crescendo into dystopic dance rock with tambourine beats. Bonnie Wandgarden’s voice parallels the likes of Karen O. and Kathleen Hanna, but sets itself apart as a disembodied echo of a Post-Summer of Love world, when vice and grimy glam ruled the streets of Hollywood, and Dr. Gonzo was off eating acid in Vegas sputtering diatribes about the Death of the American Dream. Though playful on the surface, “Death Valley Boogie” digs deep into our eastern desert valleys,

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Review: “House of the Rising Fuzz” Boston Psych Rock Compilation

House of the Rising Fuzz   It’s good to know that if I ever had to move to Boston, I wouldn’t have to worry about any lack of an underground rock scene. If you’ve had your antennae up lately, you’ve noticed spooky rock n roll action-at-a-distance in virtually every city in America. It’s obvious. Today’s fuzz is one huge EXPLOSION of epic garage/surf/psych/punk proportions. It’s everywhere. Psych alone has its string of festivals all over the country, and now the world. We have our own L.A. Psych Fest scene here in the southland. What used to be Psych Fest Austin quickly morphed into Levitation Austin, Levitation Toronto, and Levitation France. Denver Psych Fest transmuted into Synesthesia. Seattle has two: North West Psych Fest and HYPNOTIKON. There are even Psych Nights in both Brisbane, Australia and Cape Town, South Africa. We’ve definitely felt the detonation in SoCal. DIY indie bands out here are playing so hard and so far underground they’re practically egging on The Big One (and once they do, we’ll have front row seats). In revelry of this recent rock revolution, Ben Semeta has curated House of the Rising Fuzz, a ten-track odyssey that effectively sounds off the fuzz

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Entering the Void at L.A. Psych Fest 2015

‘The unspeakable is the true domain of being.’ –Terence McKenna For lineup snobs, the 4th annual Los Angeles Festival of Psychedelic Music and Art may not have compared to the recent bills of Levitation Austin or Toronto earlier this year, or even Levitation France for that matter, which synchronistically went off on the same weekend. Nevertheless, for a homegrown spectacle, L.A. Psych Fest was a wildly intimate affair. It also served as yet another euphoric instance in today’s mushrooming psychedelic revolution happening everywhere from L.A. to Denver to Boston and beyond. If you weren’t in the crowd this weekend decked to the nines in glitter mascara and your old tie-dye, you definitely missed out. L.A. Psych Fest definitely started off on the right foot, with sick performances that first night at the Regent Theater by Jennifer Castle, Green Gerry, Mr. Elevator & the Brain Hotel, Night Beats, and epic crowd-pleasers The Budos Band on the main stage. The Echo proved to be the more fitting venue, as the fest really caught its momentum during a manic second day, headlined by instrumental giants Earthless. I personally couldn’t wait to finally see JJUUJJUU and Moon Duo live for the first time (and

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PEARS New 7″: Letters to Memaw

Heads up, hardcore fans! If you dug the PEARS debut album Go To Prison, re-released by Fat Wreck Chords, you needn’t wait until 2016 for a taste of their follow-up. The 7” Letters To Memaw has your name written all over it, and is being released tomorrow, Sept. 18! Wrought from the old, macabre streets of New Orleans, the newbie thrashers made a big enough splash to catch the still-bloodshot eyes of the Fat Wreck 90s punk syndicate, which championed the likes of Propaghandi, Anti-Flag, Face To Face, and others. The 7” features songs “Snowflake” and “Anhedonia” that oscillate playfully from rabid screaming to headbanging riffs to pop-punk sentimentality, and then back around again, proving PEARS is carrying on the greasy Fat torch just fine. Singer Zach Quinn had this to say about it: “These are two songs from a quick session in April that subsequently got re recorded for the next full length. They were the first two written for our follow up, Snowflake is loosely about struggling to identify one’s own power, and Anhedonia is loosely about a joyless life versus oblivion.” They’re currently on the road with partners-in-crime Teenage Bottlerocket, and then Lagwagon later on in the

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Destruction Unit at The Teragram Ballroom

Destruction Unit Record Release at The Teragram Ballroom

Arriving at the Teragram Ballroom on 7th Street, dodging traffic, skate rats, and the regular stream of Monty Bar freaks, I dipped under the sleek, neon blue marquee, through the main doors, and into the archway of the foyer where Destruction Unit release party event collaborators Critical Resistance had a table amongst all the merch. I was just in time to see the opening acts spew death metal and summon the Devil in guttural tongues. It was the record release party for Destruction Unit’s long-awaited album of concussive rhythm and psychedelic overdrive Negative Feedback Resistor (Sacred Bones Records). In a word? Shit was lit. There were lots of freaks and aliens, but not as many as I expected. Or maybe it was just a perception thing, since the Teragram is deceptively big for only having a capacity of 600. There always seems to be tons of room whenever I’m there, while being intimate at the same time. The Teragram is little sister to New York key players The Mercury Lounge and Bowery Ballroom, and got its name from owner Michael Swier’s late wife “Margaret” spelled backward. It’s hardly a planted flag for New York, rather it’s among the few venues

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Veronica Bianqui and Friends Live Up to The Hype at Harvard and Stone

The second night of Veronica Bianqui’s September residency at Harvard & Stone, presented by Grimy Goods, was a dancy, boozy trip through space and time—like lounging on the beach and soaking it up with Coppertone on the edge of the Milky Way galaxy. Featuring brain melting sets by Vox Waves and Rudy De Anda, Tuesday night’s show attested why people are showing up in droves to see the new L.A. indie rock it-girl. “I wanted all the bands to be friends of mine who I know are badass performers,” Bianqui said of the residency when interviewed. “That’s basically it.” I like seeing shows in the middle of the week, when all the decent folk are tucking themselves into bed and there’s no line stretched down Hollywood Boulevard in Thai Town. Harvard & Stone (despite all the bitching you read about on YELP) is the best small stage venue in Hollywood, and, other than making some of the best drinks in town (Baby’s First Bourbon is a new classic), it has played humble host to a crazy amount of L.A.’s bourgeoning talent like Dead Sara, L.A. Witch, Death Valley Girls, Tashaki Miyaki, Cherry Glazerr, and a billion others. It’s the WWII

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New Album Review: Radkey- Dark Black Makeup

Radkey was always a young band with an old soul. Now, with a more-than-polished debut LP finally under their belts, becoming festival circuit regulars, and amassing a fan base that dates back five years, the three notoriously young Radke brothers from the Show-Me State aren’t so young anymore. Dark Black Makeup—recorded alongside producer Ross Orton (Artic Monkeys, The Fall, Jarvis Cocker)—is a testament to the work the three duders Dee (vocals/guitar), Isaiah (bass) and Solomon (drums) put into their first two EPs, Cat And Mouse and Devil Fruit. There’s definitely some mainstream appeal here, and I don’t mean that derogatorily. I want to hear these dudes on KROQ someday. (If they’re not already?! Clearly, I listen to KROQ). Dee’s baritone pipes makes him sound like a veteran rocker twice his age. He can also shred like one too; guitar isn’t soaked in reverb; void of any noisy effects (except for maybe the awesomely dirty track “Glore”); mainly good old fashioned distortion and clever riffs; lots of great twangy solo moments. It hit me in a sort of The Cramps meets (proto-punk) Death collision, with a sheen of gritty 60s pop. Simply put, it’s a solid rock album. I know we

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Dismaland Would Kill in California: Murky Reflections in the Last Days of Summer

Whether we’re working retail or stumbling out of bed to make it to class (or both), it’s obvious that summer’s over. Some of us are bummed out, longing for those poolside tunes (and drinks), and pensively reminiscing about our summer hook-ups as we drive down the boulevard blasting either the cover of “Boys Of Summer” by The Ataris or Lana Del Rey’s “Summertime Sadness” out the windows. While others of us may still be swearing and spitting at this goddamn fucking heat (and if you’re like me, you’re ravenously ushering in an early autumn with midnight magic spells in black-hooded cloaks, early morning rain dances in the nude, and animal sacrifices using the neighbor’s pets—you know the one, always barks at dawn in between trash pickups). Whichever side of the spectrum we’re on, we can all get a kick out of the ‘commercial’ for Banksy’s Dismaland in Somerset, England; along with a last (and rather gothic) taste of summer in this foul year of our lord—Two-Thousand & Fifteen. In the spirit of Dismaland’s dystopic commentary on our modern, and nightmarishly globalized mega-culture of oil spills, the refugee crisis, domestic abuse, abusive banking institutions, ramped up police states, or the psychopathic

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New Siouxsie Sioux Music Scores the Hannibal Series Finale

As if it wasn’t cool enough that Eagles of Death Metal released new music for the first time in forever, Siouxsie Sioux has also stepped into a recording studio and has given us a new single for the first time in 8 years. Who can we thank? Hannibal music supervisor and collaborator Brian Reitzell (Red Kross). If you’re a fan of the show, you can also thank him for single-handedly nixing the director’s original idea of featuring pop music in the pilot, and crafting one of the most haunting scores in recent network TV history. If you haven’t caught the show, do watch it. It’s a gruesome delight. As EW reports, Siouxsie and Reitzell are set to put out some more tracks together in the near future. Here’s to it. Lyrics Oh, the skies, tumbling from your eyes So sublime, the chase to end all time Seasons call and fall, from grace and uniform Anatomical and metaphysical Oh, the dye, a blood red setting sun rushing through my veins burning up my skin, I will survive, live and thrive Win this deadly game Love crime Love crime I will survive, live and thrive I will survive, I will survive I

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