Not to date myself here, but I’ve been around long enough to remember the pre-Shazam days when “Fuck the Pain Away” was the new club jam that had people asking, “Who is this?” That said, in my timeline, a new Peaches album is cause for much celebration. No Lube So Rude, the first album from Peaches in over a decade, is out today. But, that’s not all. We also have new albums from Apparat, Mirah and Night Ritualz available now. Keep reading for my reviews.
(more…)
Club Underground x Synthwaves is back with a full-venue takeover at Grand Star Jazz Club in LA’s Chinatown on Friday, February 20. I’ll be in the Synthwaves room (upstairs) playing synthpop, darkwave, post-punk and ‘80s. Tickets are available now on Dice and Eventbrite, so get yours and join the party on Friday night. Doors open at 9:30 p.m. and it’s 21+.
Saturday is the 127th annual Golden Dragon Parade in Chinatown. The parade, celebrating Lunar New Year, starts around 1 p.m. and runs down Hill and Broadway between Temple and Bernard. It’s a really fun event and free to attend, so definitely check it out if you’re in the area.
As for the rest of the weekend and early next week, keep reading for my recommendations.
(more…)
Anyone who tells you that malls are dead hasn’t been to the the Glendale Galleria. At 4 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon in early 2026, the scene looks as it might have at the same time of day some thirty years prior. Kids outnumber adults, with the high school crowd ambling past Journeys and Banana Republic in pairs and trios, while the few grown-ups alternate between sifting through sales racks at JC Penney and gossiping over Coffee Bean.
Glendale Galleria opened in 1976 and served as a beacon of LA mall culture through the earliest years of the new millennium. It’s where Panda Express became a fast food staple and where the first Disney Store appeared. For the past two decades, though, the Galleria’s reputation has been overshadowed by the neighboring Americana at Brand, Rick Caruso’s exercise in hyperrealism that looks like a cross between Disneyland’s Main Street and the Las Vegas Strip. The Americana has a trolley *and* a fountain show, plus a bunch of stores that only the Kardashian Klass can afford. It’s LA at its most aspirational. Glendale Galleria has Hot Dog on a Stick and Vans. This is LA at its most real.
(more…)
It’s time for another album review round-up. This week, we have new releases from Mariachi el Bronx, Felsmann + Tiley and Charli xcx, plus albums from KMFDM and Lapêche that were released in the past few weeks.
(more…)
Kiss Big, the latest album from Irish singer Ailbhe Reddy opens with an ending. “I see you,” she sings on “Align” as a melancholy synth percolates underneath her description of the reflection in a train window. You can imagine the goodbye play out as if it were filmed in black-and-white.
Reddy began writing Kiss Big several years ago, when the Dublin-raised artist moved to London, where she’s currently based, and was going through a breakup. “There were bits and pieces that I wrote over the years,” she says on a recent video call. The components gradually came together in the form of an album that digs into the aftermath of a relationship and all the conflicting emotions that come with it. Lyrically, Reddy glides back and forth through time as she juxtaposes flashback’s with revelations that sound more recent than they are. Making an album takes time.
(more…)
This weekend, you can catch Cold Cave at The Bellwether, Lead Into Gold over at 2220 Arts + Archives, Nuovo Testamento and SRSQ at The Roxy and Teenage Goo Goo Muck over at The Offbeat. Plus, Razorcake celebrates 10 years of parties at Footsie’s, Décadanse is back at the Grand Star with French pop on vinyl all night, Black Orpheus screens at Vidiots and more shows, clubs and movie screenings are happening this Valentine’s Day weekend in L.A. I’ve also included a few recommendations for early next week, like Mariachi El Bronx at Amoeba and The Black Watch at The Barklay, so keep reading.
(more…)
I am really excited for The Mountain, the new album from Gorillaz that’s due at the end of month. Three of the album’s already-released singles made it into my Gorillaz x Daft Punk set upstairs at Club Underground last night. The set list is below and, as always, songs from the past year or so are highlighted and link back to the artist’s tag on this blog. Thanks for dancing!
(more…)
It’s time for another theme night at Club Underground and, on Friday, February 6, we’ll be bringing back one of my personal favorites— Gorillaz x Daft Punk Night! Both floors of the Grand Star Jazz Club will be open with DJ Larry G. and me, Liz O., playing all night. On the first floor, you’ll hear songs from Gorillaz and Daft Punk, plus indie, Britpop, post-punk, synth and electro dance. Second floor is Gorillaz, Daft Punk, post-punk, electro, new wave, darkwave, goth, synthpop and dance. You know this is going to be a good one too, since Gorillaz has a new album, The Mountain, coming out later this month, five songs from which are already out now. (You may have already heard “The Happy Dictator” at Underground.) Tickets are available now on Eventbrite and Dice, so get yours now.
(more…)
It’s time for the February edition of Beatique, which is now up on Mixcloud and embedded here. Again, I’m not posting the full set list because some things should be a surprise, but it does include a couple new songs that I want to mention. Last week, ADULT. released “No One Is Coming,” the lead single from their forthcoming album, Kissing Luck Goodbye. There is so much tension packed into this song that it feels like being trapped inside a nightmare, which is probably also a good description America right now too. I have a feeling that’s the point. Also last week, Kneecap dropped “Liars Tale,” the first song from their next album, Fenian. It’s dark and it’s brutal and I love it. Between ADULT. and Kneecap, I think my rage soundtrack will be covered this spring.
(more…)
Technically, this is last week’s batch of album reviews, but I put the list on hold until today. Sébastien Tellier, Kula Shaker and Sam Quealy all released new full-length albums on January 30. Musically, they are all very different, but, each one is quite worthy of your attention. Check out the reviews and then follow the links to find where you can stream or purchase them.
(more…)