Echo Park Rising: Wax Idols

ECHO PARK RISING: WAX IDOLS

ORIGAMI VINYL, ECHO PARK, LA

15 AUGUST, 2015

After stepping back from her stint as touring bassist in White Lung, Hether Fortune finished tracking the newest Wax Idols LP American Tragic, (due out in October via Collect Records), and started to get the machine in motion again. The Origami Vinyl showcase at Echo Park Rising was the perfect place to road test two new band members, (Marissa and Peter), and the new songs, in preparation for the national tour in October/November. Blitzing through a set that started heavy with "Sound of a Void", "Dethrone" and "Ad Re Ian" from Discipline + Desire, they moved mid set into the new songs, with Fortune stepping back from guitar to focus on the songs, and even drop a quick rap. New man Peter earned his stripes here, covering all the guitar ably. Marissa stepped into large shoes filling the bass chair, but pulled it off with steady runs and backup vocals. The LA native seemed to have most of her family in attendance, which raised the energy level. The new songs are fascinating and a whole new level for Hether, and even in the imposing space of the loft of Origami Vinyl, the band seemed already in mid-tour form, fiery as ever. Check the amazing version of "Deborah" below, as well as live staple "Dethrone'.

Echo Park Rising: Downtown Boys

ECHO PARK RISING:

DOWNTOWN BOYS

ORIGAMI VINYL

ECHO PARK, LA

15 AUGUST, 2015

As sweltering as the outside may have been, the loft at Origami Vinyl offered a whole different challenge at this weekend's Echo Park Rising. With the Beserktown II Fest being held down the way in Santa Ana, it afforded Origami a great opportunity to curate a stellar instore lineup for the weekend. Lobbing bombs both verbal and musical, Providence, Rhode Island's Downtown Boys held court in the upstairs loft before the packed store, slamming through a high-octane set of political punk, broken up with between song speeches that just ratcheted up the intensity further. With so many bands paying more attention to careerist angles, it's refreshing to see a band in full IDGAF mode, addressing what needs to be said about their country. It was pure church, and some would say, patriotism of the highest order. Their debut LP Full Communism is out now on Don Giovanni Records.

Visiting dignitaries included the manager of 5SOS and the Mayor of East LA

In Dreams: Orenda Fink At Origami Vinyl

ORENDA FINK

ORIGAMI VINYL

ECHO PARK, LA

07 NOVEMBER, 2014

In town for an appearance on Last Call With Carson Daly, Orenda Fink made time for an instore up in the loft at Origami Vinyl. Formerly half of Azure Ray, she is now three albums deep into her solo journey, and Blue Dream is her most focused and intense work to date, an interesting dichotomy of both the most straightforward music and the most imposing subject matter she's delved into, and, not unlike Peter Gabriel's So, it works on any number of levels.
With Blue Dream, (out on Saddle Creek), as an obvious focus point, she led off with the meditative "Holy Holy", then unfolded a set including "You Are A Mystery To Me", "This Is A Part Of Something Greater", and a haunting "Ace Of Cups". The simplicity of the setup led to the best sound I've ever heard at Origami, full and rich, and with none of the usual Mexican Radio transmissions bleeding into amps from the surrounding Echo Park neighborhood. Reaching back into her catalog, she parlayed a stunning duo of "That Certain-Something Spring" and "Why Is The Night Sad" from Ask The Night, and later in the set, broke out a show-stopping "Easter Island" from Invisible Ones. As the last show on the domestic Blue Dream tour, it was an enthusiastic and intimate set that hopefully sets the tone for January's European Tour adventure.

Over, Down Under, and Sideways With Courtney Barnett

COURTNEY BARNETT AND THE COURTNEY BARNETTS

PAPPY AND HARRIETS

PIONEERTOWN, CA

08 AUGUST, 2014

...True story: Was lounging at Origami Vinyl in Echo Park, when the man on the counter started something new. A languid late night groove wormed its way into my head, and then that voice came in: "I was busy underwater/Seeing how long I could hold my breath..." It rambled on, seeming stream of conciousness, but acutely observed. The music was off kilter, full of delicate touches, but my heart was won when the drums rumbled in at the end, like a train passing in the desert.
By the middle of the third song, "Avant Gardener", a shaggy dog story seeded with guitar squeals, it was so right I was laughing out loud.
 I made the counter, pointing at the sound system: 
"I'll have THAT!".
"No, you won't..." Our man replied trimly, "It's not out yet..."

I finally got my paws on a copy of Courtney Barnett's Double EP: A Sea Of Split Peas...and the rest is history.

Having made the mad dash to the desert a few times this year, the best part is when you depart I-10 and begin the climb up Highway 62 towards Joshua Tree. Veering off at Yucca Valley sent me once again out the road to Pioneertown. Pappy and Harriet's Pioneertown Palace has become a home away from home, and the roadhouse provides an intimate, sweaty, and often raucous place to catch a show.
The question was how the atmospheric songs of Courtney Barnett would hold up live. Taking a different tack, (no doubt learned in the pubs of Australia), she went for the Volume Dealer approach, turning the songs inside out, and blasting them full on, with the aid and comfort of her rhythm section, bassist Bones Sloane and drummer Dave Mudie. Turns out Courtney Barnett is a rock star...pretty much the same dichotomy one faced when seeing Lucinda Williams in the early 90's: going in with a folk mindset, and getting hammered with a Stonesy riff-fest. The best possible surprise, to be honest.
Courtney earned her keep before even hitting the stage, ghosting onstage to grab one of the opening band's guitars to fix a busted string. When their appointed time arrived, as if prodded on by the ominous Supermoon overhead, the band opened with a swaggering "David", then dropped into "Lance, Jr". Things came fully alive with "Are You Looking After Yourself", the template of the live transition, ending in a hail of feedback. Excepting the opener, the first half leaned heavily on her first EP: I've Got A Friend Called Emily Ferris, and her latest: How To Carve A Carrot Into A Rose yielded the bulk of the second half, including an impressive run through "Don't Apply Compression Gently" and a velvet glove/iron fist take on "Out Of The Woodwork" setting up "Avant Gardener", her best-received/most notorious song that gave way to the stomping set closer "History Eraser".
On the final steps of a US tour promoting A Sea Of Split Peas, out on her own Milk! Records in Australia, internationally on House Anxiety/Marathon Artists, and here in the States on Mom and Pop Records, Courtney Barnett and the Courtney Barnetts more than made their case. With a new album in the can, save for final tweaking, it'll be fun to see where she heads next. I can't say enough about her rhythm section; they give her the ideal springboard to work off of, and when pressed, they're modest to a fault. While the EP's allowed Barnett to work with a sprawling cast, there's definitely a chemistry with this trio, and I look forward to seeing it exploited.