Marie Davidson Live and More Happening in L.A. This Weekend

April 3, 2025 Liz O.

Marie Davidson City of Clowns album cover

So, the reason I decided to scale back on posting events here is because I’m back at writing up listings for Discover Los Angeles and I don’t like to repeat myself. You can click here to see recommendations for the week of April 7 through April 13. The one event on the list that is most relevant to the roundups I write here is the Turntable Trio event at 2220 Arts + Archives on Monday, April 7. It a next-level DJ performance event with a super reasonable cover charge at a venue that I like a lot.

I won’t be DJing this weekend, which is probably a good thing on account of having a feature story that I have to finish for next week. (My next gig, if you’re wondering, is at Nocturno on April 11.) If you’re looking for a dance night, head to Underground on Friday at the Grand Star. Larry G. has all the indie, new wave and post-punk jams ready for you. Here are more recommendations for this weekend.

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Interview

Night Ritualz: “We won’t be here forever, but our music potentially could live for a very, very long time”

April 2, 2025 Liz O.

Night Ritualz promo photo 2025 — Night Ritualz (photo courtesy of the artist)

When Vincent Guerrero had a venue in San Antonio, called Vice Versa, he spent his days organizing, which also meant going through the vinyl collection housed in the space. “Every day, I would get a random record and I would listen to it,” he recalls.

He was struck by the album covers with photos of the musicians, sometimes large bands, all dressed up for the occasion. “At some point in their life, this was their dream,” Guerrero remarks. He’d listen to the music, some of which could not be found on Spotify or YouTube. “It was kind of scary, but kind of beautiful,” he says. “We won’t be here forever, but our music potentially could live for a very, very long time.”

All this inspired Guerrero, who records under the name Night Ritualz. “I always wanted a record, a vinyl,” he says. “That was a dream.”

So, after Vice Versa closed, Guerrero put his efforts into attaining that dream. On March 7, Night Ritualz’s self-titled debut album was released via Metropolis Records on both digital and vinyl formats. Following the album drop, he hit the road. He headed back to San Antonio for the record release shows, then to Austin, where he now lives, and played a string of South by Southwest dates. A West Coast tour, which concludes with Night Ritualz’s first headlining gig in California at The Cathedral in Pomona on April 4, followed.

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Beatique Mix

Beatique Mix April 2025 feat. Mark Lane, Model/Actriz, Joy Division and More

March 31, 2025 Liz O.

Photo of cars whizzing down 110 freeway in Los Angeles. (Photo: Liz Ohanesian) — The 110 freeway in L.A. as seen from a Metro J Line stop (Pic: Liz O.)

It’s time for another Beatique Mix. The April 2025 edition of this mix series includes new music from Mark Lane, Night Ritualz, Marie Davidson, Model/Actriz, The Horrors, French Police and more. It also includes a few classic cuts from the likes of Kittin and the Hacker, Joy Division and others.

One thing that I want to stress is that these aren’t club mixes, even if they partially sound very clubby. The Beatique Mix series is a reflection of the music that’s been in my head for the past month, regardless of genre or vibe or whatever. For the April mix, specifically, I had transportation in mind, which explains the first three songs, as well as the last one. The photo for this mix is of the 110 freeway as seen from an L.A. Metro J Line stop.

If you want to hear my club sets, then you have to go to the gigs. Click this link to see where I’m playing next.

A Number of Names – Shari Vari

Night Ritualz – Take Me 2 the Crib

Mark Lane – Yelling at Cars

Marie Davidson – Y.A.A.M.

Model/Actriz – Cinderella

The Rapture – House of Jealous Lovers

Fcukers – Bon Bon

Big Black Delta – Pik Pok

Kittin and the Hacker – 1982

The Horrors – L.A. Runaway

Fontaines D.C. – It’s Amazing to Be Young

Joy Division – Digital

French Police – Venado

Kneecap – H.O.O.D. (2025 Mix)

Berlin – The Metro

Liz O. is an L.A.-based writer and DJ. Read her recently published work and check out her upcoming gigs or listen to the latest Beatique Mix. Follow on Instagram or Bluesky for more updates.

Keep Reading:

“You could pop on the internet right this second and find people road-raging”: Mark Lane on New EP, Yelling at Cars

The Horrors Bring Melancholy to Night Life

French Police Has a New EP, Espera, Out Now

It’s Marie Davidson vs. Big Tech on City of Clowns

New Music

Night Ritualz Debut, Hiroshi Yoshimura Reissue and More March 2025 Music

March 30, 2025 Liz O.

Amongst the new releases for March of 2025 were Night Life, the first new full-length album from The Horrors since 2017, as well as clipping.’s new latest album, Dead Channel Sky, both of which were previously covered here. Plus, earlier this month, Agender dropped Berserk, an album I liked so much that I interviewed singer Romy Hoffman for Beatique.

Click to read “Agender: ‘Some Songs Need to Be Fast and Furious’”

But, wait, there’s more. This month also brought new albums from CocoRosie, girlpuppy and Takuro Okada, plus a smashing debut album from Texas’ Night Ritualz, as well as reissues of worthwhile albums from electronic music pioneer Bruce Haack and ambient composer Hiroshi Yoshimura. Check out the reviews below and get yourself some new music.

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Interview

Flashback to 1980s L.A. with Grey Factor on Live Album, A Peak in the Signal

March 28, 2025 Liz O.

Jeff Jacquin and Joey Cevetello of Grey Factor (Photo courtesy of the band)

When first wave L.A. synth band Grey Factor originally played around town, it was the junction of the 1970s and 1980s, an era when synths were more cumbersome and complicated than they are today and local audiences weren’t totally sold on electronic music.

Back then, Jeff Jacquin and Joey Cevetello, the core of the group, and their bandmates lugged analog gear into punk clubs. Sometimes, they brought their own soundboard as well. Cevetello carried pieces of paper with charts showing how all the knobs on the synthesizers should be arranged. Their stands were repurposed shelving units.

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Happening in L.A.

Franz Ferdinand Live, Mulholland Drive Screenings and More Happening in L.A. 3/27-4/02/25

March 27, 2025 Liz O.

Photo of Agender by Lindsey Byrnes — Agender (Photo: Lindsey Byrnes) plays a free show to celebrate new album, Berserk, at Zebulon on 3/28/25

I made an executive decision to scale back on the event listings here, just to save myself some time. Going forward, I’ll post these on Thursdays and the list will include my top five recommendations for events happening in L.A. through Wednesday of the following week.

The top 5 will be in addition to my DJ gigs. (I’m not playing anywhere this week.) If an event is going on multiple days, like a week-long movie run, it will be listed at the top. After that, everything is listed chronologically.

This week’s recommendations include David Lynch movies screening in L.A. and Orange County. Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, Inland Empire or David Lynch: The Art Life? Take your pick. There’s also animation studio Titmouse’s annual 5 Second Day shorts fest over Vidiots on Friday night. For shows, Agender’s free, album release gig at Zebulon will be a blast on Friday. On Saturday, consider Franz Ferdinand at The Wiltern or Vague Lanes and Darkswoon at The Goldfish. All the details are listed below.

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Adventures in L.A., Live Music

Caravan Palace Live at The Novo in Los Angeles

March 26, 2025 Liz O.

A little more than an hour had passed since Caravan Palace launched into their set at The Novo on Monday night. The French group, a trio in the studio now six people strong on stage, had already pumped up the crowd with a near-seamless mix of older tunes, like their version of “Black Betty,” and material from last year’s album, Gangbusters Melody Club. The stage was now saturated in blue light that moved like a wave as singer Zoé Colotis talked the audience.

“Let’s get crazy for a while. Forget all your troubles, just spread good energy and craziness,” she told the crowd.

White lights burst from the strobes, pulsating with the beat that had just kicked the crowd in the pants. They pumped their hands in the air and jumped in unison. The floor vibrated. My phone started to shake as I tried to record video.

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Adventures in L.A.

Intuition Festival at The Broad with Michael Rother and Money Mark

March 24, 2025 Liz O.

Michael Rother live at The Broad in Los Angeles for Intuition Festival on Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Photo: Liz Ohanesian) — Michael Rother live at The Broad in Los Angeles for Intuition Festival on Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Pic: Liz O.)

When Michael Rother, who co-founded Nue! and Harmonia, played Intuition Festival at The Broad on Saturday night, I had a mini-revelation. This might have happened during a Harmonia song, but I can’t be sure since it was well past the point where everything Rother played on the stage outside of the museum converged into one giant piece of music in my head. I was dancing and, suddenly, something in the tone of the guitar made me think of New Order. It’s not as random a thought as you think.

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New Music

The Horrors Bring Melancholy to Night Life

March 21, 2025 Liz O.

With a title like Night Life, one might assume that The Horrors would drop listeners into the sweatiest, dingiest, bassiest warehouse after-hours on their latest album. That’s a semi-reasonable assumption if you heard the band’s 2021 EPs, Lout and Against the Blade, but it’s also an incorrect one. On the U.K. band’s six album— their first full-length in seven years— night life is hushed and melancholy. It’s gothic, not goth, i.e. more Brontë sisters than Sisters of Mercy.

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New Music

Clipping. Tackles Today’s Dystopia on Dead Channel Sky

March 20, 2025 Liz O.

It’s the second track off Dead Channel Sky, the latest album from hip-hop trio clipping., that hooked me into the album. “Dominator” begins with a snippet of Human Resource’s early ‘90s banger of the same name, the line “I’m the one and only” pitched up and stuttering towards a collision with rapper Daveed Diggs, who drops a quote from “Bring the Noise,” the Public Enemy classic, “Once again back it’s the incredible.” The sound is bombastic, in the way that the old rave anthems were, and clipping. keeps up the big, boisterous vibe as “Dominator” slides into “Change the Channel,” which twists towards late ‘90s electronic tastes, think “Firestarter”-era Prodigy-meets-Chemical Brothers.

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Indie music and alt culture blog from Los Angeles. By Liz O.