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Issue 273 |
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Your cultural event guide
Here's a snapshot of our favorite things to do in Los Angeles this week. |
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Los Angeles
May 20-26, 2008
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Memorial Day weekend is in our sights, and that means the unofficial start of the summer party season. You'll need to pace yourself for the long weekend ahead — although, with the big Funky in the Middle farewell on Thursday and the hilariously inappropriate Dan Band on Friday, that might be tough. (We better not find you in a fetal position by the time Monday rolls around.) Whether you're heading to Topanga Canyon for a weekend of homegrown jams, all the way to Santa Barbara for the Lightning in a Bottle campout, or just popping over to Westwood for the jazz-and-reggae festival, pack sunscreen, pop a vitamin, and remember to salute a flag or two along the way.
- Shana Nys Dambrot, Managing Editor
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SPECIAL FEATURE
Piero Lissoni
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Piero Lissoni has created furniture, kitchens, bathrooms, and lighting for some of the design industry's biggest brands. But Lissoni doesn't stop there — he's also designed apartments, houses, villas, showrooms, and luxury hotels. Our sister publication Artkrush caught up with the busy architect and designer to discuss his practice and his Dellis Cay project in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
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MUSIC: Rock/Pop
Clinic w/ Shearwater
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Tuesday May 20 (9pm)
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| where: |
The Troubadour (9081 Santa Monica Blvd, 310.276.6168)
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| price: |
$20
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Since their inception over a decade ago, Liverpool psych-retro-whatever wizards Clinic have been frequently described as "spooky," "cryptic," and "creepy." But this does less to describe their eclectic, vintage-keyboard-heavy sound than their bizarre penchant for performing in surgical masks. Regardless of their sinister rep, Clinic have perfected a mutant blend of art-rock weirdness and chugging, fuzzed-up surrealism that really has no peer. Their latest effort, Do It!, deals in deranged '60s-style psychedelia à la 13th Floor Elevators, augmented by frontman Ade Blackburn's icy croons. Tonight, the band makes its first SF appearance in a while, with Okkervil River-offshoot Shearwater opening.
- Suzanne Niemoth
[Info Source]
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MUSIC: Rock/Pop
Let's Independent feat. Karabal Nightlife w/ the Soft Hands and the Savages
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Tuesday May 20 (9pm)
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| where: |
Boardner's (1652 N Cherokee Ave, 323.462.9621)
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| price: |
FREE
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This month's edition of Radio Free Silverlake's Let's Independent features three spotlight-deserving acts from the Southland. Three-piece Karabal Nightlife headline with harmony-laden indie-pop in the vein of Eels and Spoon. Lead singer Jesse Davis' thoughtful lyrics and careful arrangements drive the band's debut album, The Other Shore. Meanwhile, the Soft Hands trek up from Long Beach with Gang of Four-meets-Modern Lovers rock in tow, and Silverlake's own Savages round out the night with macabre folk rock.
- Jessica Jardine
[Info Source]
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PERFORMING ARTS: Theatre
Out of Sight
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Wednesday May 21 (8pm)
More times»
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| where: |
Skirball Cultural Center (2701 N Sepulveda Blvd, 310.440.4500)
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| price: |
$18
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You've heard of the triple-threat actress who can sing, dance, and act. Sara Felder is more like an octuple threat — fusing juggling, shadow puppetry, dance, comedy, storytelling, social activism, and performance art into a kind of one-woman repertory company. Felder's dazzling production Out of Sight uses the 60th anniversary of Israel's founding as a prism through which to view the relationship between a Zionist mother and her progressive, lesbian daughter. Through the dance, debate, movement, and poetry emerges a story that's both specifically Jewish-American and universally human.
- Shana Nys Dambrot
[Info Source]
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MUSIC: Rock/Pop
The Dresden Dolls w/ Smoosh and Lavender Diamond
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Wednesday May 21 (8:30pm)
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| where: |
The Wiltern (3790 Wilshire Blvd, 213.388.1400)
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| price: |
$25
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The Dresden Dolls bring their over-the-top theatrics to the Wiltern tonight for a show full of stage makeup, eclectic costumes, and, if you're lucky, performances from talented locals (read: scantily clad women doing acrobatics on a stripper pole). The self-described "Brechtian-punk cabaret" duo plays a bombastic brand of confessional pop, with Amanda Palmer over-enunciating smart, candid lyrics over catchy piano melodies and crisp, caffeinated drums. Joining the Dolls are young indie rockers Smoosh and local psych-folk rock outfit Lavender Diamond.
- Joe Blankholm
[Info Source]
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MORE FLAVOR: Benefit
Re:Present: Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions Benefit Art Auction
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Thursday May 22 (7–10pm)
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| where: |
Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (6522 Hollywood Blvd, 323.957.1777)
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| price: |
$75
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Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, that bastion of avant-garde visual art and performance, celebrates its 30th anniversary in style tonight at its annual benefit party and art auction. Over the years, LACE has introduced game-changing work by visionaries Mike Kelley and Laurie Anderson, with little more than creative grassroots funding and public support. Proceeds from the evening's sales sustain its programming as well as (fingers crossed) the eventual digitization of its extensive video archive. With music, cocktails, and generous art donations by a litany of national A-listers like Sue de Beer and Barry McGee, LACE makes it easy to help.
- Ashley Tibbits
[Info Source]
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MUSIC: Hip-Hop
El-P w/ Mr. Dibbs & the Mighty Quinn, Dizzee Rascal, Aaron LaCrate, and Bus Driver
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Thursday May 22 (8pm)
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| where: |
El Rey (5515 Wilshire Blvd, 323.936.6400)
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| price: |
$21.50
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Fresh off the Def Jux release of his tech-rap album Maths + English, UK grime mastermind Dizzee Rascal brings his introspective rhymes and tricky electro beats back across the pond. Weaving together Southern trap (UGK makes an appearance on the record) with old-school samples, Dizzee continues to bring a distinctive sound to hip-hop. Def Jux label founder El-P, meanwhile, headlines the evening with an apocalyptic edge of heavy, often avant-garde beats under hyper-literate wordplay. While his recent, critically acclaimed record I'll Sleep When You're Dead bridged the gap between indie and hop-hop, El-P's live show remains classic through and through.
- Chloe Leichman
[Info Source]
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ART: Photography
Philip-Lorca diCorcia
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Friday May 23 (noon–9pm)
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| where: |
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (5905 Wilshire Blvd, 323.857.6000)
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| price: |
$12
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Photographer Philip-Lorca diCorcia's meticulously planned pictures look as effortless as Polaroids. Most of his works feature a single person — who diCorcia usually finds through casting on the street — strangely lit in intimate private spaces or in urban settings like Tokyo, Hollywood, Calcutta, and New York. Over the last 30-odd years, diCorcia has worked his way into the highest echelon of internationally renowned photographers, with solo shows at major art institutions across the globe. LACMA hosts work from the artist's many notable series, including Hustlers, Streetwork, Heads, and Lucky 13.
- Jessica Jardine
[Info Source]
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ART
The Puppet Show
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Friday May 23 (7–9pm)
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| where: |
Santa Monica Museum of Art (2525 Michigan Ave, 310.586.6488)
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| price: |
$5 suggested donation
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SMMoA gathers an eclectic array of work by 30 impressive artists — from Kara Walker to Louise Bourgeois, Bruce Nauman, and Kiki Smith — in this mixed-media exhibition centered around the art and metaphor of puppetry. Some of the contributors use puppets as subjects of personal narratives, while others are more concerned with the artist's behind-the-scenes role as puppeteer of information and morality. In addition to featuring contemporary and modern works, the museum provides historical context by including more traditional artifacts, as well as early subversive interpretations of the craft.
- Ashley Tibbits
[Info Source]
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MUSIC: DJ
Release and Home:made present Wet Pool Party feat. Andy Caldwell
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Saturday May 24 (1–10pm)
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| where: |
Custom Hotel (8639 Lincoln Blvd, 310.645.0400)
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| price: |
$30
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Memorial Day may technically be a "holiday," but in LA it's mostly an occasion for a gauntlet of poolside DJ parties — including one of the season's best. The Release/Home:made Wet Pool Party is now held at the West Side's favorite micro-Ibiza, the Custom Hotel; this one features a Nor- and So-Cal lineup including a deep-house set from headliner Andy Caldwell (Om, LA), and an up-tempo set from Julius Papp (Neodisco, SF), along with Scott K (Therapy, LA), Franky Boissy (Pink, SF), and KCRW fave Raul Campos. The ticket price includes the afterparty upstairs (10pm-2am), where beats get broken down and mashed back together courtesy of John Day and Justin Gourley, joined by the ubiquitous Custom Sundaze resident Wiseacre.
- Shana Nys Dambrot
[Info Source]
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ART
Tillman Kaiser: Don't Worry About the Motion on the Ocean
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Saturday May 24 (6–8pm)
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Honor Fraser (2622 S La Cienega Blvd, 310.837.0191)
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| price: |
FREE
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Painter Tillman Kaiser invokes the legacy of dadaist Marcel Duchamp, who famously flipped a ceramic urinal on its side, signed it R. Mutt, and called it art. But instead of lavishing his transformative gaze on unsanitary found objects, Kaiser uses images. His paintings manipulate color and scale to engage mundane objects in a completely new context. Don't Worry About the Motion on the Ocean, Kaiser's first US exhibition, demonstrates finely honed craftsmanship and an aesthetic ambition beyond that of his dada predecessors.
- Ashley Tibbits
[Info Source]
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MUSIC: Jazz/Blues
UCLA Jazz Reggae Festival feat. the Roots and Stephen Marley
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Sunday May 25 (noon–7pm)
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UCLA Main Campus (308 Westwood Pl)
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| price: |
$35
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A counterpoint to the often somber tone of Memorial Day weekend, the UCLA Jazz Reggae Festival offers the looming summer season's first chance to properly irie up. Sunday's "Jam" showcase features old-school rap antics and fiery political prose from the Roots, alongside the smooth R&B of Oakland soulstress Goapele, and the slicked-up county blues of Blue Note sensation Amos Lee. On Monday, the inimitable Stephen Marley cools things off in time for some laid-back Memorial Day BBQ — after dancehall heroes Capleton and Mr. Vegas fire up the pit, of course.
- Andrew Phillips
[Info Source]
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PERFORMING ARTS: Spoken Word
Tongue & Groove
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Sunday May 25 (6–7:30pm)
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| where: |
The Hotel Café (1623 1/2 N Cahuenga Blvd, 323.461.2040)
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| price: |
$6
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Tonight's family-tied Tongue & Groove has the strange secondary theme of birthdays (at least four of the performers have one this month). Writer, actress, composer, and free spirit O-Lan Jones offers her iconic interdisciplinary narration, while her son Jesse Mojo Shepard (Jubilee King) proves that talent runs in the family with his flinty humor and brisk dialogue. T&G pater familias Conrad Romo offers a reading of his own impressionistic urban prose, and performances from playwright Phillip William Brock, writer/dancer Sissy Boyd (in the plain turn of the body make a sentence), and musical guest Julie Christensen (Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man) keep things communal.
- Shana Nys Dambrot
[Info Source]
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MUSIC: Rock/Pop
Ride on Rides w/ Foreign Born, Restaurant, and Willoughby
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Monday May 26 (8:30pm)
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The Viper Room (8852 W Sunset Blvd, 310.358.1881)
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| price: |
$10
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Dim Mak darlings and rising LA institution Foreign Born aren't above a little indie-rock anthemry. Drawing on the stringy guitars of Tapes 'n Tapes, the swinging rhythms of the Walkmen, and the bravado of early Arcade Fire, the boys strike a fine line between guitar rock and echo-laden reverie. Ultimately, they may be outplayed by any one of the many others aping similar influences (it's a pretty big world out there), but their live shows remain unhinged, expansive, and ultimately exciting affairs — fiery exultations by a pack of hometown heroes. They hit town tonight with sunshine-popping piano plunkers Ride on Rides.
- Andrew Phillips
[Info Source]
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MUSIC: DJ
Monday Social feat. DJ Colette and Jesse Brooks
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Monday May 26 (10pm)
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Nacional (1645 N Wilcox Ave, 323.962.7712)
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| price: |
$10 - 20 w/ RSVP
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The sultry DJ Colette has long been associated with names like Paul van Dyk, Kaskade, Mark Farina, and other earth-shakin', booty-bumpin' house DJs — and, in the '90s, she played a key role in the much-lauded, all-chick DJ group SuperJane. Tonight, Om Records' First Lady of House plays host to Hollywood's glitterati with a headlining set at Nacional's weekly Monday Social. The party-startin' diva is fresh from promoting her sophomore album, and her wanderlust doesn't show any sign of letting up, as she spins her way back to her hometown of Chicago.
- Jorge Barriere
[Info Source]
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PERFORMING ARTS: Theatre
James Carroll Pickett's Dream Man
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Friday May 23 (8pm)
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Skylight Theatre (1816 1/2 N Vermont Ave)
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| price: |
$20
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Playwright James Carroll Pickett's one-man show Dream Man focuses on Christopher, a phone-sex hustler at his breaking point. Twenty-three years ago, actor/playwright Michael Kearns originated the role at the Skylight Theatre; now, Kearns is behind the scenes, directing Madrid-based actor Jimmy Shaw as the telephonist in turmoil. Rich and affecting, Dream Man is not only a dissertation on sexuality's not-so-subtle intrusion on our everyday lives, but also a survey of American sexuality, before and after the rude-awakening of the AIDS epidemic.
- Julian Hooper
[Info Source]
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About Us |
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Cultural Partner
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Editors
MANAGING EDITOR
Shana Nys Dambrot
DEPUTY EDITOR
Jessica Jardine
PRODUCTION EDITOR
Nick Earhart
SENIOR EDITORS
Anna Balkrishna
Doug Levy
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Joe Blankholm
Jorge Barriere
Julian Hooper
Steve Nalepa
Andrew Phillips
Lisa Rosman
Ashley Tibbits
IMAGE EDITORS
Adda Birnir
Sarah Steele
PUBLISHERS
Sascha Lewis
Mark Mangan
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Flavorpill Los Angeles
All events featured on Flavorpill LA are pure editorial — we never accept paid promotions or advertisements. If you know about an upcoming event that you think should be covered in Flavorpill LA, email us a press release at la_events at least two weeks prior to the event and we'll consider it.
To learn more about our staff and policies, see the credits and about us pages. If you'd like to respond to our editors about a listing published here, or have a general inquiry, please email la_feedback.
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