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The official Coachella 2012 lineup has been announced and it is pretty spectacular. Headliners for this year’s event are The Black Keys, Radiohead and a double whammy of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. Other acts include, Swedish House Mafia, Avicii, Florence + the Machines, Childish Gambino, Girl Talk and At The Drive In. For the [...]
There are few things better in life than sitting on the couch with your Tivo, some food and a friend/significant other to talk about nonsense with after a long, busy day. Until you realize that sitting on the couch is all you ever do, and you’ve become a complete hermit with no social life.
For those looking to remedy such problems, may we suggest stopping by Spare Room’s new live music series, which goes down at the bar/game room/old-timey bowling alley each Thursday this month.
Curating the series is actress Samantha Shelton, who is also a former member of Zooey Deschanel’s jazz cabaret group If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies. And Shelton has rounded up an eclectic group of performers including Stumpwaller, a SoCal-based rockabilly group (October 13) and sibling-helmed, Balkan gypsy folk band The Petrojvic Blasting Co. (October 27).
The shows start at 9 p.m. and, from what we remember from the days when we used to get off our own couch, the the door isn’t always the easiest. So you should probably know a friend on the inside, make a reservation or wear your best push up bra and smile real pretty.
7000 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles. 323-769-7296. reservations@spareroomhollywood.com
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Photo: The Swanky George Esquivel-designed bowling shoes available for rent at Spare Room’s alley.
While there were a few standout outfits at the 2011 VMA’s last night, the overall looks were lukewarm at best. But over in Paris, where the Rock en Seine music fest is currently in full swing, performers such as Anna Calvi (pictured, right), The Kills front woman Alison Mosshart and Lykke Li were tearing it up on stage in cool, unfussy garb that only a Parisian music fest could breed.
Granted the French didn’t have the privilege of hosting Beyonce and her soon-to-be-born spawn, but no matter. There must be something in the French water that promotes uncomplicated outfits that make wearers look like actual musicians — you know, ones who write songs and play instruments and stuff.
Some of our favorite Rock en Seine looks from both on-stage and off, after the jump.
David-Ivar Herman Dune of Herman Dune
A festivalier.
The Kills’ Alison Mosshart
Lykke Li
CSS member Lovefoxxx. Ole!
BB Brune
Contrary to frat boy belief, cups of beer and really good outfits do in fact go together.
Oh hello, Arctic Monkey.
Austra
Another festivalier.
Fin.
Photos courtesy of Le Monde, Le Express and rockenseine.com.
Straight off the road from SXSW, Portland-based trio Otis Heat played at the Silverlake Lounge last night. Our own trio stopped by to check out the band from the North.
“I want to dance,” one of our pack suggested. It was only a few songs into the set, and spite our Tuesday night fatigue, we joined her. We followed the bands gradual energy climb through their cover of “Sunny,” by Bobby Hebb. Then, we swayed with the crowd as Otis Heat performed their own spooky version of “Que Sera, Sera.” A peculiar choice one may think, considering the original perkiness the Doris Day signature song. But the song was originally introduced to audiences in Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much.” Perhaps the band was channeling some Hitchcock? Perhaps their mama used to sing it to them? We’ll let the mystery remain.
Despite expectations, none of the band members donned a plaid. They looked comfortable, but the crowd looked like a cast of extras from Portlandia, the show created by Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein that runs on IFC (but we just watch the clips on Hulu, shh).
As we observed hipsters who could double as Ford Models in the room, one line from the “Dream of the ’90s” Portlandia music video kept humming through our head, “all the hot girls wear glasses, yeah!” Those ladies definitely know their way around a curling iron. (Watch the preview for Portlandia, “Dream of the ’90s”)
“I haven’t seen the show, but I’m familiar with the stereotypes,” lead singer Sean O’Neil replied when we over-enthusiastically asked him about our new television addiction.
Well, the stereotypes were alive with the sound of music last night in Silver Lake!
(Sorry I’m posting this a little late, but I slept ‘till eleven.)
Making their way up the West Coast, Otis Heat plays tonight at Hotel Utah (500 4th Street at Bryant) in San Francisco before returning to their native Portlandia. Here is a preview of the band performing their song “Everybody Loves Me the Same Way.”
Photo: Sean O’Neil rocks the bass (courtesy: Otis Heat).
The official 2011 Coachella lineup has been announced and it’s decent. Acts including Kanye West, Arcade Fire, Duran Duran, the Black Keys and Robyn are among the performers descending on the desert April 15-17. A three-day pass runs $269 (plus surcharges, natch). And, like last year, individual day tickets aren’t available. We’ll be there. And hopefully this time around we’ll get to hear some music from inside the gates instead of, you know, out in the parking lot with strangers. Rock on.
Are all the new singers these days getting younger, or are we just getting, well, less younger?
Regardless, there’s no denying that 9 years old is a tender age to be entering into the music world but that is precisely what Willow Smith is doing. Smith, the daughter of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, has just released a music video for her song ‘Whip My Hair.’
Under the direction of Ray Kay, who is credited for Lady Gaga’s ‘Poker Face’ and Justin Bieber’s ‘Baby,’ Smith proves that she undoubtedly inherited her parents’ musical genius. And by the looks of things in the video, Smith also shows that she is one budding fashionista. Complete with trends we are coveting (the yellow jumper with studded belt in particular), nail art that would make Rihanna and Katy Perry jealous and painted hair whipping around in a Jackson Pollack kind of way, we have our eye on this talented rising star.
The track goes on sale digitally October 26th and Smith will make her live performance debut on Ellen November 2. Set your DVR people. In the meantime, see the video for ‘Whip My Hair’ below:
sebastien tellier – look from EL NINO on Vimeo.
We know there is a strong Paris to Los Angeles connection, so naturally Parisian label Record Makers, who are renowned for nurturing electronic music favorites from the likes of Air to Sebastien Tellier, bring their 10 year celebration to Los Angeles this week. The celebratory events kick off with an art exhibition featuring work by the artists whose contributions have proved vital to the visual world of Record Makers. The exhibition opens tonight, Wednesday September 29 from 7-10 PM at Space 15 Twenty
The Parisian party continues with a concert tomorrow night at the El Rey featuring Monsieur Tellier along with Acid Washed who will be performing their modern disco for the first time in California. Their live show was visually designed by the creator of kraftwerk.com, Anthony Burrill, and is gaining critical acclaim from around the world. Turzi’s psychedelic aesthetics will be performing for the first time in L.A. as well. His show will be solo, surrounded by synchronized vintage keyboards and a mindblowing lightshow.
There is also a free iPhone app and a compilation album to keep you celebrating even if you can’t make it to these fantastic events in person.
Record Makers 10 Year Exhibition
Wednesday, Sept. 29. 7-10 p.m. Space 15 Twenty. 1520 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Los Angeles.
OohLaLA Festival/ Record Makers 10th Anniversary
Sebastian Teller with Acid Washed, Kavinsky (DJ set), and Turzi
Thursday, Sept. 30. 7 p.m. El Rey Theater. 5515 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. Doors @ 7pm | All Ages | $25-
You know Tarina Tarantino as the fuschia-haired jewelry designer-turned-makeup-maven who has a penchant for glitter. Now you can know her as temporary disc jockey, too. The designer lent her musical taste to KCRW, joining the likes of Scott Sternberg and Trina Turk as former station guests who hail from the fashion world.
Tarantino’s playlist includes 1980 hit “No Strange Delight” by Roxy Music, which she says is the inspiration behind a current collection-in-progress, “Generique” by Michel Legrand — the tune she walked down the aisle to, and “What She Knows,” an electronic dance tune by Sally Shapiro that reminds her of fashion week in Milan.
It really reminds me about the nights in Milan – travelling through the streets, going from one party to another during fashion week and just the beautiful, sexy gothicness of Milan at night.
You can listen to the program, see the full track list and read the full transcript on KCRW’s website.
Photo: Tarantino, right, with KCRW host Ann Litt.
It’s no secret that we at Style Section L.A. have major crushes on KCRW’s crew of dreamy DJs. And lucky for us, they keep doing cool things worth writing about. We just got word that Mathieu Schreyer, who can be found spinning at Bar Marmont when not on the airwaves, has launched a line of T-shirts called Unknown Soldier.
The shirts, which are available for both men and women, have a musical spin — natch — and use re-worked concert posters, drawings and album covers as main graphics. Some even feature French sayings, Schreyer’s native tongue. We’ve been known to scoff at T-shirt lines before. But Schreyer’s collection conveys a bit of mystery and doesn’t look like every other game in town. We like that. A lot.
The cool, casual line of tees and tanks range from $55-$75 and are already available at A. Kinney Court in Venice. By the end of this week, they’ll be at the Nom de Guerre shop inside Opening Ceremony, too.
While shooting Alison Sudal (the singer known as A Fine Frenzy) for today’s Spring Awakening photo shoot, a pair of ballet slippers caused a bit of a rumpus around the set. Stylist Monica Schweiger arrived raving about the pair of black, leather, lace-up ballet flats by Corso Como that come with a built-in sock. Her 
assistant agreed, pointing to her feet and adding that they were the most comfortable things she’d ever worn. Later, Schweiger pulled the shoes out of her bag in a nice, compact ball and offered them to Sudal, who was getting ready to climb a steep, grassy hill. Sudal also remarked at how comfortable the shoes were (plus she made it up the hill in one piece). Not to mention cute—the shoes were used in the shot.
Corso Como ‘Ballasox,‘ $60. Available at Revolve Clothing.
Photos courtesy of Revolveclothing.com and, at right, Jeaneen Lund.
