Giant Robot Store and GR2 News

For the bunch of you who went to the Biennale 4 and didn't examine the Giant Robot Store Installation. Here's one angle of it. There are tons of details within so I'll make an effort in the next few days...
Continue reading
King Buzzo played his first ever acoustic set at the Satellite last night and it was amazing. I really didn’t know what to expect when Scion announced the free show. Would it be Melvins Lite light? Were marshmallows going to be provided for “Kumbaya” moments? No way. It was heavy as shit, with Buzzo singing as if he heard the bone-crushing music of the Melvins in his fuzzy head while trying to break his acoustic axe’s unorthodox-tuned strings with every stroke. The badass set started with a super dark Alice Cooper cover and ended with my favorite Japanese psychedelic doom metal band’s namesake song, “Boris.” Somewhere in the middle of the show he previewed a cut off his upcoming album and surveyed a bunch of Melvins tunes. It was great. You had to be there–or not. There was a ton of SLR-wielding dudes filming the event so you should be able to check it out on the Scion AV site one of these days… Props to Tweak Bird for playing a far-out opening set. I arrived half-way through and was stuck in the back of the room, too far to take photos, but they ripped. BONUS REVIEWS You might have noticed that the GR site went down a week or so ago. Here are some friends’ shows that were casualties but need to be on this blog… Dum Dum Girls record release show at The Echo on January 28. I like the new LP but the new songs sound even better with the proper band propelled by my pal Sandy Vu’s killer chops and beats. Killer set of psychedelic pop goth with an extra dude added for bonus texture. I expect this lineup to be out of their collective minds by the time they hit Coachella. A Minor Forest at The Satellite on February 8. Back in the day, drummer Andee Conners stayed at my house with J Church, P.E.E., and this band, A Minor Forest, which just got back together for some reunion shows. They were tighter, heavier, and more mathy than ever. Perhaps more fun, too. So great to seeing him and the dudes in action and hanging out on the sidewalk, as well as opener Rob Crow. Kevin Seconds at Amoeba Hollywood on February 13. Okay, I don’t personally know the singer from 7 Seconds but Eloise is now part of the youth crew after attending the in-store commemorating his great new solo album. Accompanied by his wife Allyson and Kepi Ghoulie, the new songs aren’t meandering singer-songwriter stuff but brief, earnest bursts of energy that rip. Sound familiar? Save Music in Chinatown 2 on February 9 at Human Resources. Our fundraising has now reached about $7,500 to put toward music education at Castelar Education in Chinatown. The lineup of our second benefit matinee was a dream for me: DJ Adam Bomb from KXLU’s Bomb Shelter played first-generation L.A. punk and hardcore (Weirdos, Circle Jerks, X, Dils, Adolescents…) complemented by vintage 7″ singles from my friends from...
Continue reading
King Buzzo played his first ever acoustic set at the Satellite last night and it was amazing. I really didn’t know what to expect when Scion announced the free show. Would it be Melvins Lite light? Were marshmallows going to be provided for “Kumbaya” moments? No way. It was heavy as shit, with Buzzo singing as if he heard the bone-crushing music of the Melvins in his fuzzy head while trying to break his acoustic axe’s unorthodox-tuned strings with every stroke. The badass set started with a super dark Alice Cooper cover and ended with my favorite Japanese psychedelic doom metal band’s namesake song, “Boris.” Somewhere in the middle of the show he previewed a cut off his upcoming album and surveyed a bunch of Melvins tunes. It was great. You had to be there–or not. There was a ton of SLR-wielding dudes filming the event so you should be able to check it out on the Scion AV site one of these days… Props to Tweak Bird for playing a far-out opening set. I arrived half-way through and was stuck in the back of the room, too far to take photos, but they ripped. BONUS REVIEWS You might have noticed that the GR site went down a week or so ago. Here are some friends’ shows that were casualties but need to be on this blog… Dum Dum Girls record release show at The Echo on January 28. I like the new LP but the new songs sound even better with the proper band propelled by my pal Sandy Vu’s killer chops and beats. Killer set of psychedelic pop goth with an extra dude added for bonus texture. I expect this lineup to be out of their collective minds by the time they hit Coachella. A Minor Forest at The Satellite on February 8. Back in the day, drummer Andee Conners stayed at my house with J Church, P.E.E., and this band, A Minor Forest, which just got back together for some reunion shows. They were tighter, heavier, and more mathy than ever. Perhaps more fun, too. So great to seeing him and the dudes in action and hanging out on the sidewalk, as well as opener Rob Crow. Kevin Seconds at Amoeba Hollywood on February 13. Okay, I don’t personally know the singer from 7 Seconds but Eloise is now part of the youth crew after attending the in-store commemorating his great new solo album. Accompanied by his wife Allyson and Kepi Ghoulie, the new songs aren’t meandering singer-songwriter stuff but brief, earnest bursts of energy that rip. Sound familiar? Save Music in Chinatown 2 on February 9 at Human Resources. Our fundraising has now reached about $7,500 to put toward music education at Castelar Education in Chinatown. The lineup of our second benefit matinee was a dream for me: DJ Adam Bomb from KXLU’s Bomb Shelter played first-generation L.A. punk and hardcore (Weirdos, Circle Jerks, X, Dils, Adolescents…) complemented by vintage 7″ singles from my friends from...
Continue reading

Of course, Money Mark was featured in the pages of Giant Robot mag many times and even played our big outdoor show in the streets of Little Tokyo with J Church and the Red Aunts. That must have been in 1995 or so. I still buy his records and go to his shows whenever I can, in recent years at JANM, The Troubadour, Amoeba, Spaceland (with the Mattson 2), and that HUF show with Tommy Guerrero, Ray Barbee, and Fredo Ortiz (where I shot the pics above and below). Mark’s bands and sets are always different but the music is as grooving as it is experimental and straight from the heart. His songs are impossible to dislike. He’s the reason why Check Your Head and Ill Communications are the heaviest Beastie Boys albums.

It was just a few weeks ago that I reconnected with Mark at the Troubadour, where Fredo’s Bongoloidz were playing a show. We caught up with each other regarding our gigs and our kids, and of course I mentioned that my wife and I started a series of DIY benefit concerts to raise money for music education at our daughter’s school. When he said that he’d play our show, I said no way. It’s too small. Then he said, “Really, I would.”

Continue reading

Of course, Money Mark was featured in the pages of Giant Robot mag many times and even played our big outdoor show in the streets of Little Tokyo with J Church and the Red Aunts. That must have been in 1995 or so. I still buy his records and go to his shows whenever I can, in recent years at JANM, The Troubadour, Amoeba, Spaceland (with the Mattson 2), and that HUF show with Tommy Guerrero, Ray Barbee, and Fredo Ortiz (where I shot the pics above and below). Mark’s bands and sets are always different but the music is as grooving as it is experimental and straight from the heart. His songs are impossible to dislike. He’s the reason why Check Your Head and Ill Communications are the heaviest Beastie Boys albums.

It was just a few weeks ago that I reconnected with Mark at the Troubadour, where Fredo’s Bongoloidz were playing a show. We caught up with each other regarding our gigs and our kids, and of course I mentioned that my wife and I started a series of DIY benefit concerts to raise money for music education at our daughter’s school. When he said that he’d play our show, I said no way. It’s too small. Then he said, “Really, I would.”

Continue reading