Around the junction of the 1970s and 1980s, brothers Clive and Mark Ives met up about three times a week to experiment with synthesizers. “We were having a real journey working with each other,” Clive recalls on a video call from his home in Brighton, England. “He had taken control of the tape recorders and I had the synthesizers and we would sit opposite each other and we were able to produce hundreds of little bits of music.”
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There aren’t enough hours in the day to listen to all of this week’s new releases, but I managed to sit down with a few of them, including Xiu Xiu’s new cover album, Xiu Mutha Fuckin’ Xiu: Vol. 1, Sleaford Mods The Demise of Planet X, Sylvia Black Shadowtime and Tigra and SPNCR Black Rice. Scroll down for the reviews.
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There are a lot of David Lynch happenings across Los Angeles this month, but the calendar for this weekend and early next week are particularly packed, given that Friday, January 16, marks the first anniversary of the beloved director’s death and Tuesday, January 20, would have been his 80th birthday. With that in mind, the first section of this week’s event recommendations is all David Lynch-related and includes everything I could find that still has tickets available. After that, you’ll find more movie screenings, concerts and club nights happening between Thursday, January 15 and Wednesday, January 21. Amongst them: Shannon Shaw live, Los Angeles Record Fair, a John Carpenter double feature and a Selena museum exhibition. Keep reading for the details.
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The first piece that caught my eye inside Craft Contemporary was a rug. Really, it was a wall hanging— I can’t imagine anyone allowing feet to come in contact with it— but it was handhooked with the kind of thick wool yarn that you would imagine carpeting midcentury homes. Garden, designed by Evelyn Ackerman and produced by Toyo Rug Company in Osaka, Japan back in 1962, is art you want to touch. In it, a garden scene rises from a plush, sunny background where two children with cheery faces pick flowers and play with birds. It’s charming in the way that’s similar to Mary Blair’s It’s a Small World style, but it’s also tactile. Pictures don’t do it justice and, while you can’t actually touch museum pieces, you can lean in close to see how the yarn is hooked and sheared to create dimension and add textured details like windblown hair. You should see Garden, and so many other pieces Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman, in person and you can in the exhibition Material Curiosity By Design, which opened at Craft Contemporary in November and runs through May 10.
Yes, Please by Sextile was my favorite album of 2025 because it has bangers for days. Last year, I mostly played “Women Respond to Bass” and “Rearrange,” although “Freak Eyes” and “Push Ups” have gotten some love too. Last night, for the first Klub Nocturno of 2026, I finally had the chance to play “S Is For,” which I love because it has such a early ‘00s electro punk vibe. Also, who doesn’t just want to shout out “shit” over and over again while raging on the dance floor right now?
Full set list is below and the new-ish releases link back to previous mentions on this here blog. As always, thanks for dancing! To keep up on when and where I’m playing next, either check back here or sign up for the newsletter or follow me on Instagram.
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“Hit My Head All Day,” the first single and lead track from Secret Love, the latest album from Dry Cleaning, has been in DJ queue for months now. It’s a song that I keep meaning to drop into a set, but for some reason haven’t yet. It’s such a weird little jam, a slice of ‘80s-style post-disco for the 2020s doomscroller with echoes of Flying Lizards and Dominatrix and the title repeated throughout the song. It’s slow— languid, really— which is probably why I haven’t played it out yet, but the groove is tight. It actually feels like you’re dragging yourself through another day of bad news to the beat of a world that’s on the verge of collapse, which is a very fucked up way to describe a song that you like, but its also art. It’s not supposed to be all hands-in-the-air escapism all the time. And there’s a catharsis that comes with that.
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This Friday, I’m back at Klub Nocturno for another full-venue takeover of Catch One. I’ll be in the new wave vs. darkwave room with a mix of your favorite throwbacks and new school bangers. This is Nocturno’s annual free night and, well, I hope you already RSVPed because tickets are sold out on Dice. Follow Klub Nocturno on Instagram for more info (and to catch me talking about one of my favorite albums).
Keep reading if you want my recommendations for the rest of the weekend and early next week.
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The most smartly dressed protester at Pershing Square on Saturday afternoon was the person in a Tyrannosaurus Rex suit, an inflatable blue number with a red pattern winding down the back. I can only imagine that this person emerged from the protest much less drenched than the rest of us. Umbrellas, hoodies and hats were only somewhat useful as the rain grew heavier through the afternoon. In the end, it took hours in front of the heater to mostly-dry the wide legs of my black jeans. But, the minor inconvenience was worth it to be part of the crowd chanting “No war on Venezuela.”
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As usual, one of my New Year resolutions was to spend less time scrolling. And, also as usual, I failed sometime during the morning of January 1. By lunch, I was still in my pajamas, sitting on the sofa with my eyes darting back and forth between devices. On my phone, I tapped through the New Year’s Eve stories of virtually everyone I know. On my laptop, I hate read an op-ed in the billionaire-owned L.A. Times about why taxing the rich is bad and felt no remorse for using a paywall remover to do it. And I did all this while watching the Rose Parade, plus an hour’s worth of cartoons. Then I figured I should cosplay an adult, so I put on real world clothes, sat back on the couch and watched General Hospital. It was a repeat of the final episode with Luke Spencer played in memory of the actor Anthony Geary, who recently died, so I kind of had to watch it.
New year, same ol’ Liz.
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Last night, my friend asked if I had a song for the new year. I didn’t. I thought about it, though, and answered Kneecap “H.O.O.D.,” more for the band than for the specific song. They’re the group I would consider the MVP of 2025, one that has had a lot of bullshit thrown their way just for speaking out against the genocide that so much of the world has watched transpire on their phones. Yet, they’ve stuck to their principles and refuse to be silenced. They’re the real deal in a time of fakers and I appreciate that so much. That’s the kind of energy we need this year.
Anyhow, I played upstairs at the Grand Star for Underground’s New Year’s Eve party. Super cool crowd. Thank you all for being there, especially on a rainy L.A. night. It was great to overhear someone in the crowd saying, “I love this song…it’s Confidence Man” when “Gossip” came on. Even better to hear from people who came up to the booth because you were excited to hear “Juicebox” or “¿Porqué te vas?” or some other song that I can’t recall right now. Hope to see more of all of you in 2026. Set list is below. The 2025 songs link to other mentions on this blog.
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