Photo Credit: Aaron Gautschi

I’ve never been a big Valentine’s Day girl. It’s not that I don’t appreciate love—in fact quite the opposite. It’s just that I resent the feelings of obligation that seem to come with the holiday, not to mention the sub-par chocolate. (Just because it’s wrapped in red tinfoil doesn’t mean it’s good.) But ever since last Saturday, February 13^th, I’ve become an official Valentine’s Day nut-job. Let’s just say I had a vision that changed everything, and that vision was Lucent L’amour. →

The Echo – Echo Park, CA
Live Review: 11/12/09
***
I’m standing in the middle of a packed crowd at LA’s Echo. Electronic music is blasting from the stage, but no one appears to be dancing. At first glance, this could seem like a problem, a doomed prognosis for the careers of the two energetic, intensely riveted young men on stage. But then again, this isn’t just any electronic music.

A closer look reveals that the audience is in fact dancing, though the movements are subtler than you might expect given the deafening, fast washes of sound coming from the speakers. More importantly, however, most people are facing the stage with their eyes closed, grinning widely as if warming themselves in the sun after a long winter. →

Spaceland – Silverlake, CA
Live Review: 10/13/09
***
It’s 8pm on a Tuesday, but if you live in Los Angeles, that doesn’t sentence you to a night on the couch with Seinfeld and a TV dinner. There’s plenty to do, you just have to go out and find it. At Spaceland, for instance, a small, hip venue in Silverlake, a crowd is forming at the base of the stage. The air is buzzing—literally, and if you look around you’ll notice why. Most members of the audience are equipped not only with 20 oz cans of PBR, but also with a musical instrument of some kind. →