DJ Lorin aka Bassnectar in L.A. (video from 12/28/08)

Bassnectar Ripping it Up in L.A.

What a killer show this was. I thought I’d post this video here as a reminder of the types of kick-ass music events that take place in L.A. Lorin always packs the house with some of the most gorgeous, fun-loving people on the planet. The L.A. underground is alive and well, even though this particular event was not really underground. It certainly gestated there!

Join Twan’s eMail List and Social Networks

I’ve recently discovered the usefulness of Twitter. I used to think it was silly, but at the Lightning in a Bottle music and arts festival, I found it to be very beneficial.

LIB had been constantly updating their Twitter feed, letting you know who was currently on what stage, and other up-to-the-minute happenings throughout the weekend event. Very useful indeed.

Follow Twan’s Twitter Feed(s)

Now you can follow me on Twitter, too. There are two options. Feel free to go for them both.

The first is mainly a companion to Twan’s email list and this blog:

“TwansList” Twitter Feed

http://twitter.com/twanslist

The 2nd is geared toward my random thoughts and simulated brilliance:

“the_real_Twan” Twitter Feed

http://twitter.com/the_real_Twan

Subscribe to Twan’s List Email List:

http://lists.electric-loft.org/mailman/listinfo/twanslist

Over the years, I’ve added and dropped various personal email addresses, as have many people in this community. As such, there are folks who used to be on this list who are no longer here (though I suspect that they’d still like to be). Please forward the following URL to your friends who you think might benefit from receiving these messages from me from time to time. They can subscribe at the following URL (or write to me directly and I’ll sign them up):

* http://lists.electric-loft.org/mailman/listinfo/twanslist

5th Anniversary of “Plump”: June Bloom

Plump presents June Bloom
The 5 Year Anniversary Party!

*Ripe*Juicy*Electro*House*Breaks*Techno*
June 26th, 2010
9:30pm – 4:30am

Five Years? No Way!

Way. Five years of Plumpy goodness! From scrappy upstart to reliable haven of flavor…when exactly was the tipping point? Who cares! Here we are now, still doing what we do for you: rock the party like only we know how. For the Big Cinco, we welcome badasses Wolfie and Blue back to our stage, and get a first time appearance from West Side beatslingers Saadhu and Loomer!

The hugely popular lounge that Jacques the Ripper has been hosting will be back with a vengeance, sexier than before…if that’s possible. And guest curating in the gallery is Deb Vogt and Mike Russek, fresh off the amazing show they put together at Lightning in a Bottle. Plus expect some eclectic musical excursions and live music in the gallery.

For our anniversary we’ll have some special gifts and surprises for you. We couldn’t have lasted all these years without our amazing Plumpers! We’re lookin’ forward to seeing all you guys come out big in your flower outfits!

DJ Line Up: Big Room

• Wolfie (djwolfie.com)
• Saadhu & Loomer (bassritual.com)
• Blue (blueinsomnia.com)
• FatFinger (projectalma.org) – rare opening set

• VJ: Smokeblower (SD, smoke-blower.com)

Lounge w/Heargasm Productions

• Jacques the Ripper (heargasm.com)
• Scorpia
• 4play (SD)

• VJ: Disco Stu gets loungey (sdscanlon.com)

In the Art Gallery

Curator: Deb Vogt and Mike Russek, fresh off their LIB show (downtown L.A. @ dialect.com)

• Eclectic music from:
• Early Bird Circus (live)
• Chaplin MXR (projectalma.org)

Featuring:

• Elaborate Flower Decor
• Crispy and bangin’ AlmaSound, EAW & QSC system.
• Two Smoking & Chilling Terraces.
• Lush Lounge area with sexy house and downtempo beats.
• Full Bar, cash only.
• Happy Hour until 10:30!
• Parking in garage next door on Carondelet, $6, open 24/7.

Cover:
$15 before 10:30, $20 after
Looking for an Electric Daisy Carnivale afterparty? $10 after midnight w/wristband.
21+ only!

At our beautiful new location!
627 S. Carondelet St.
Los Angeles, CA 90057

www.projectalma.org

Midsummer’s Night Flux – Temple of Flux – L.A. Benefit for a Burning Man Project

The L.A. Benefit for a Burning Man Project
Temple of Flux

First up: the link – this is VERY important! the link to purchase tickets! Midsummer’s Flux tix.

Tickets must be purchased online ahead of time, no buying at door due to LAPD!

A Midsummer Night’s Flux

Los Angeles Benefit
for the
Temple of Flux
@ Burning Man
Metropolis 2010

An evening of sensory delights for your eyes, ears, and whole self celebrating 10 years of the Burning Man temple….and this year’s Temple of Flux*

Saturday June 12th
Mission:Control
9 pm – 5 am
21+

DJs ::
Gravity [Pink Mammoth, SF]
The Loomer [Bass Ritual/Area 33]
Saadhu [Bass Ritual/Area 33]
Pyrotec [Conspiracy Lab Recordings]
Hyjynx [Ninja Skillz]
LU5H

Performers ::
William Close [Earth Harp/Drum jacket]
Nancy Elizabeth [Sword/belly dance]
Miss Alikat Rose [Burlesque]
Suzy LeeLo [Fire]

Live Painting ::
Jacqueline Stewart

There will be a silent auction for both displayed artwork as well as
art created LIVE during the event!

DONATE:
http://temple2010.org/wordpress/

Since 2000, the Temple has been a place for catharsis, remembrance, and rebirth, offering Burning Man participants a physical reminder to embrace change.

Drawing its inspiration from canyons carved over time by wind and water, the Temple of Flux rises from the desert floor as a series of graceful double-curved walls. Their wide, heavy bases taper as they ascend, leading the eye from a solid urban foundation to an increasingly fragmented upper edge as these long angles reach to the sky.

The Temple is a collaborative effort of three long-time community artists; Rebecca Anders, Jess Hobbs, and Peter Kimelman; along with numerous Burning Man communities and friends.

We have a huge range of experience and backgrounds, with one unifying vision: creating awe-inspiring, memorable art that emerges from the community and influences change.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please be quiet in the neighborhood, respect your surroundings, and do not post to lists.
Parking & venue information will be sent to you along with your donation receipt.
Drink tickets will be available for purchase online at the venue.

Rolling Stones Re-release “Exile on Main Street” and a Making-of DVD

Rolling in L.A. with the Stones

By Michael Simmons Thursday, May 13 2010

On May 18, the Rolling Stones’ 1972 classic Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street will be re-released in three editions: the remastered album, a version with bonus tracks and a superdeluxe set with vinyl, DVD and booklet (rumors of a super-duper-deluxe set complete with hypodermic and burnt spoon remain unconfirmed). The DVD is a super-cool behind-the-scenes during the making of “Exile on Main Street” in the early 1970′s. A must see for rock music fans and Stones fans.

Time has justified Exile’s mythological standing as a masterpiece of murk, an ??ber-bluesy collection of spooky grooves. Fans know of (and have mythologized) the band’s infamous sessions at Nellc??te in the south of France . And while it’s true that most of the album’s basic tracks were recorded there, where the Stones had been taxed into self-exile, Exile was actually wrapped and mixed right here in Los Angeles .

The sunlight, the drive to work, the way the girls look. L.A. ‘s got a very strong set.

Marshall Chess
president of Rolling Stones Records

After the French heat got hip to Nellcote’s pharmaceutical follies, the Stones fled and arrived in L.A. on November 29, 1971. ” L.A. added a whole dimension to Exile’s mixing and assembly,” recalls Marshall Chess, who, as president of Rolling Stones Records, was privy to the inside. “The sunlight, the drive to work, the way the girls look. L.A.’s got a very strong set.”

Chess says Mick Jagger was in charge of sessions at Sunset Sound Recorders, still open for business today at the same spot: 6650 Sunset Boulevard, at Cherokee. “We utilized Dr. John and Billy Preston for help. Dr. John got us backup singers. Billy brought that gospel sound to the vocals. They were crucial to the overall sound of the tracks. In some ways they might’ve been called part-writers. A lot of times it’d be stagnant and Billy Preston would put his shit on it and it would change the riff and texture.” Chess remembers “Happy,” “Casino Boogie,” “Ventilator Blues,” “Torn and Frayed” and “Loving Cup” getting extensive overhauls at Sunset Sound.

Former Beatles employee Chris O’Dell was personal assistant to the Stones at the time: “Keith [Richards] was going through his usual Keith stuff. They weren’t organized in the studio. I remember many nights being there for hours. It felt like it didn’t ever click. Maybe that’s the way they recorded. I was used to the Beatles and how refined their sessions were.”

O’Dell leased homes for Jagger, Richards and Mick Taylor in Bel Air, while Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts usually stayed at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. “They were the toast of the town. They got invited to everything that happened,” O’Dell recalls. “Mick’s a very social person. Always has been.” The boys partied with Papa John Phillips and Natalie Wood and visited Ike and Tina Turner’s studio in Inglewood.

O’Dell’s then-boyfriend, former Band road manager and Mean Streets producer Jonathan Taplin, recommended photographer Robert Frank for the album cover and sent Jagger a copy of Frank’s heralded photo collection The Americans. Frank was flown in from New York and they all went down to L.A. ‘s Skid Row on pregentrified Main Street to shoot ??? hence the album’s title.

“I just remember how easygoing it was, just walking down the street and people following us and everybody getting high,” says O’Dell. “The street people came out and went, ‘Heeeyyy, are you Mick fucking Jagger?’ He’d laugh and they’d follow us.” Frank used a Super-8 movie camera and the Stones stills on Exile’s cover are frames from that film.

Chess says 1 a.m. business meetings with lawyers were not uncommon, and fondly recounts regular jaunts with Keith to Canter’s on Fairfax for strawberry shortcake with real whipped cream. Both he and Keith bought Ferrari Dinos at Hollywood Sports Cars, a legendary dealership that’s no longer in business. But there was a dark side too.
“After Altamont there were death threats from the Hell’s Angels,” says Chess. “When we got to L.A. , Mick and I bought pistols. I had a .38 hammerless Smith & Wesson. Mick was paranoid about the Angels.” But overall, Chess says, L.A. was a positive experience that put the icing on one of the great rock & roll albums of all time. “They were drawn to all things American. The Stones love American music and fit really well in L.A. ”

Bringing it all back to 2010, it’s the jones for new music on the bonus tracks that has Stones freaks scratching. Don Was, the Stones’ producer since 1993, was brought in last year to mix and oversee overdubs for unfinished outtakes. He recounts his marching orders: “Keith sent me a fax sayin’, ‘You don’t have to make it sound like Exile. It is Exile.’”

Was explains what he believes to be the key to Exile’s off-kilter sound: “It reminded me of what Miles [ Davis ] was doin’. There’s this apparent looseness to it, but it’s holdin’ together. The thing that makes [the Stones] great is that they all feel the beat in a little different place. If you listen to the tracks individually, you go, ‘This is a mess.’ When you put it all together, it creates this looseness, but it still grooves. There’s a centrifugal force that holds the band together. With Exile, they pushed the centrifugal force as far out as you can and still have the center hold.”

Speaking of the Stones, what do you make of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8CtWUY7nvg

Lightning in a Bottle – May 28 – 31, 2010

LIB Returns

Only a Southern California dance, art, and music festival can feature Daedelus and downward facing dog, but that???s exactly what the fifth annual Do LaB ???Lightning in a Bottle??? music and arts festival will offer when it takes over 100+ acres of Irvine???s Oak Canyon Ranch over Memorial Day weekend.

The four-day, three-night festival bills itself as ???equal parts music, art and green workshops.??? Accordingly, those drawn to bone-crunching bass and funky rhythms can choose from over 90 artists including Booka Shade, The Album Leaf, The Glitch Mob, The Very Best, Daedelus, Daddy Kev, and Nosaj Thing.

Lightning in a Bottle will also feature a set from Krystee, the winner of the festival???s mix-tape contest that found DJ???s from across America looking for a chance to perform by submitting tapes using only Lightning in a Bottle acts.

Attendees can also explore other options, via green-living workshops that offer ???practical, do-it-yourself lessons on creating a healthy, low-cost, sustainable lifestyle.??? The workshops included ???Small Space Container Gardening,??? ???How to Make Raw Chocolate??? and ???Growing & Using Medicinal Herbs.??? Those looking to loosen up after three nights in a sleeping bag can increase their elasticity via an array of yoga courses taking place throughout the day.

The artistically inclined may find solace in the festival???s art gallery, installation pieces or its Lightning in a Paintcan Project, during which local artists will transform oversized mural panels into paintings using recycled paint. The finished pieces will be sold in a silent auction, with proceeds going to Sonic Muze, a nonprofit group that provides underfunded schools with music instruments and art supplies. With three-day passes available for $190 (including camping), the festival figures to bring enough stimulation so that everyone will need to say Savasana by Monday night.

Ticket info on the Lightning in a Bottle website