Todd Anderson
Resonant Sound Baths: Sunn O))) at the Lodge Room
Todd Anderson
February 15, 2023
Having never heard SUNN O))) before, I had no idea what I was in for as I waited at the back door of the Lodge Room in Highland Park. I purposely didn’t look them up or listen to them. Sometimes I like going into a show totally blind and open to something new. And last night was something new, for sure. I’m either the worst person in the world to write about this, or the best. See, I thought I was going to see a metal show, a rock show, a show that fit into the box I had constructed that contains everything I thought I knew about a musical act. On stage the semi-circle of 10 stacks of amplifiers only spoke to it being loud but nothing else. Last night was a beautiful, profound, and absolute assault on the senses…. Almost spiritual in nature. When the first vibrations of deafening sound hit me I nearly panicked …I wanted to run, leave get out as quickly as I could … I closed my eyes and gave into the loudest droning guitars I had ever heard in my life It was an electronic exorcism performed by two cloaked figures wielding guitars
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Power Chords and Heart Break: Mike Krol at the Bootleg Theatre
Todd Anderson
February 26, 2019
Mike Krol is never dead… but that’s a different story. His Bootleg theatre show was the second show of his tour promoting his newest album Power Chords (Merge Records 2019). He cranked out his own brand of fuzzy melodic power pop to a packed house in Los Angeles with the crowd singing along as he belted out his own special blend of garage influenced pop punk melodies bleeding out with the charming intoxication of the obsessively heartbroken. Power Chords is technically the fifth album from this Milwaukee born musician/(sometimes) graphic designer if you want to count the compilation of his first two recordings called Mike Krol is never dead on merge records 2017. He has consistently pumping out the heart break since 2011. Words and Photos by: Todd Anderson
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Subhumans On Sunset: Young, Old, Punks, Posers Pay Homage at Los Globos
Todd Anderson
April 13, 2017
On an ordinary Monday night, I walk down East Sunset Blvd with my camera. I dip into the tattoo shop to say hello to a friend as I make my way down the street in the early evening, Los Angeles “magic hour.” There are a few teenage gutter-punk kids smattered randomly around the boulevard as I walk up to Club Los Globos to document the Subhumans gig- there’s no line… I’m early. I stake my position to the right of the stage on a small riser with a column that reaches up to the celling, which proves invaluable later, and I people watch as the crowd fills in through the opening bands. The frantic buzz, the electric anticipation, it all begins to crackle as the notable Oakland band, The Love Songs, finish their set. The club is a mix of every kind of fan imaginable- young, old, punk and the ones that the highly dogmatic call “posers”- just open minded, intellectually curious folks, is all. Even though they know not, they are open to a historic moment when their more well versed friends tell em one is coming- even if they aren’t able to sing along to songs written by
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A Camera, Notebook & A Foul Disposition for Sinkane at The Bootleg
Todd Anderson
March 14, 2017
There’s no way to write about last night without it being personal, deeply personal. While in the midst of a debilitating depression, of which I am prone to, my friend and my girlfriend dragged me into the Bootleg Theatre, minutes before Sinkane was to take the stage. I had my camera, notebook, and a foul disposition… attempting to focus on shooting something… anything to get out of this funk that had ahold of me and secretly planning to leave at the drop of a hat. As Sinkane’s 8 diverse members found their places on the stage, I had no way of knowing I was about to be transformed, changed, grooved right out of the deep darkness I was in. I look up and see the drum reads Sinkane, and right below Kulu Shi Tamaam- but I’ll get to that later. By the end of the first song, I realize Sinkane has mastered the art of build up. I’m uneasy and still not quite sure of what is going on. I snap some photos, grateful for the task. By the third song, I feel it- that indescribable feeling you get when music transports you somewhere else, somewhere good, somewhere so far
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Giant Sand at the Echo: 30 Years of American Desert Roots Alt Country Rock
Todd Anderson
June 17, 2016
“Giant Sand isn’t broken, we’re just putting it to bed after 30 years” said singer, Howe Gelb, as he launched into a hauntingly slow and ethereal set of American Desert Roots Alt Country Rock… Whatever box you need to put it in, it’s a music that borders on a psychosis of David Lynchian proportions. Giant Sand is an obvious labor of love, and boasts an impressive line up of members over the last 30 years. Not to mention a noteworthy (bad ass) cast of guest artists; including the likes of PJ Harvey, M. Ward, Neko Case, and Isobel Campbell… to name a few. I knew I was witnessing something special at The Echo when after asking for more vocals in the monitor, Howe said “I shouldn’t be singing above a whisper” as his deep smooth voice fell in with the Waltz already in progress… I don’t know too many people that can come off so unaffected while wearing an old black snakeskin suit and white cowboy hat as Gelb pulls it off effortlessly. Giant Sand’s performance took twists and turns, as drummers changed out and picked up guitars, guitar players took over vocals, and a pedal steel player appeared, disappeared,
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