Urban Lounge
Pedro the Lion @ Urban Lounge 05.22
When I learned that David Bazan was reforming the band last year, I was intrigued and hopeful that new music would follow. There hasn’t been any new material recorded as of yet, but Pedro the Lion are touring, banging out crowded shows just like the old days. … read more
Cigarettes After Sex @ Urban 04.21
Cigarettes After Sex provide a beautiful soundtrack for a cultivated, classy yet ever-so-slightly racy date-night, as their Urban Lounge set proved. Whether imbibed in the background of private late-night moments or onstage with a sold-out crowd, Cigarettes make for a most luscious, velvety auditory torte. … read more
Rogue Wave Etc.
Rogue Wave are playing Wednesday night, April 25, at Urban. If you love the band, or have ever loved them in the past, I wouldn’t miss it. If you aren’t familiar with Rogue Wave’s calm indie pop delicacies, the show might be just what you need to feel good on a bad day … read more
Wax On: An Interview With Rapper Wax
Wax’s set was creative, high-energy, sonically diverse (he even played the guitar) and skillful. He made a true connection with the audience well before his performance and didn’t disappoint, converging a myriad of different styles and themes in production and lyricism. … read more
Built to Spill @ Urban Lounge 04.04
Built to Spill are on a major label, not an independent one, and have been since the ’90s. What makes them indie, if you ask me, is the way they carry themselves, the way they make records, the way they perform live. … read more
Talib Kweli @ Urban Lounge 03.03 with Niko Is, DJ...
With the energy at a high, Talib exited the stage. Of course the chants began soon after, begging the living legend to come back to the stage for another song. … read more
Alex Cameron @ Urban Lounge 03.03 with Molly Burch
Alex Cameron’s fans showed up at Urban Lounge in earnest, jammed within the small, railed-in area just in front of the stage. … read more
Real Whole Human: An Interview with Mitski
If Mitski were a camera, she’d shoot disposable flash portraits of average moments, then hand a print to you months or years later and completely break your heart. … read more
Haken, Sithu Aye, Mammoth @ Urban Lounge 09.09
LA’s three piece Mammoth opened the evening with a short set that got the crowd swaying and tapping. Mammoth’s sound is like jazz-fusion and prog rock had a heavy metal love child. I was reminded of Alan Holdsworth’s song “Metal Fatigue” throughout their set. Spicy Wolf Man, on the band’s website says, “Mammoth flit around
Instruments of Sadism: Sweden’s Antichrist
It feels like a privilege to get some questions answered by the not-so-self-promoting Swedish thrash attack that is Antichrist. It’s a rare insight into a band that largely keeps internet information sparse other than when they are playing shows—in an age where most bands use every nugget of cyberspace to talk about their band. … read more