Emperor X’s “Go Captain…”

Emperor X is the stage name of Los Angeles musician Chad Matheny. He’s also a friend of Kazai Rex and can be heard singing on parts one and two of “This is the House” on Juggling Snakes. A few months back, Danny and I went out to Pehrspace to catch him live with Moses Campbell and The Finches. It was an incredible show and, for me, its highest moment came during this song, “Go Captain and Pinlighter.” His glasses long since cast aside and sweat dripping down his face, Matheny sang into a microphone suspended from a line of duct tape, several of his biggest fans down on their knees around his feet, the whole room lit by a distant lamp whose light shifted along with the reverent audience. I recently obtained the song (from the album The Blythe Archives Vol. 2, which you can find at his website, http://www.emperorx.net) and I’ve been playing it non-stop. I don’t know why, but every time I hear it, I feel like my heart is breaking. But still I can’t stop. That’s about as much as I can endorse anything. – Dominick

 
Download:
Emperor X – Go Captain and Pinlighter [mp3]

LA Font’s “The American Leagues”

Remember in July when I first told you about LA Font and fawned over them like a tween and told you how they were going places? Well, since then, they’ve had writeups from Kevin Bronson of Buzzbands.la, The 704, and Indieshuffle; they’ve secured opening slots at the Silverlake Lounge during the residencies of local rising stars Family of the Year (last month) and Wet and Reckless (on the 25th of this month); and they’ve finished their debut full-length, titled The American Leagues, arranging for it what will be a kickass record release show at Origami Vinyl in Echo Park on October 9th. Check the art:

 

 

I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of the album and it hasn’t left my thoughts since. It’s like a ball of magma being launched from a trebuchet. “Fine Lines” was a delectable little taste, but it turns out that it’s only just the tip of the iceberg. The title track is an obvious favorite, but what strikes me most about it is the strength of its central metaphor; my chief experience of LA Font having been live (in which lyrical clarity almost inevitably gets lost in the mix), I have to admit that I wasn’t entirely prepared for a set of lyrics that is so damn stimulating. An solid lyric like “We lost our faith in the American Leagues / too many dopers batting fourth, it seemed” accomplishes enough on it’s own, but it’s really the pair of lines that follow that make it: “If we wanted dopers we could easily / step outside our homes.” That changes everything in just about the most interesting way I can think of. Another favorite of mine is “Lone Wolf Boys,” whose first couple minutes are home to mellow Americana (in which Danny’s vocals never cease to remind me of early Secret Machines) that quickly evolves into one of the most glorious series of buildups in recent memory, the vocals riding the sharp guitar lines with a natural ease. And of course the album closer, “Metal Box,” is unforgettable, it’s anthemic guitar line acting as a complicated figure of catharthis, its melody foreshadowing a deceptively simple but ultimately haunting set of lyrics.

This album’s probably going to make my top ten of the year and I really don’t think it’s because of my relationship with the band. Thinking as objectively as I can, I believe that this is a serious accomplishment; great songs with great lyrics and great arrangements, released on a great medium (vinyl) with a great tracklist of a great length. Sounds great, don’t it? It is. See you at Origami. – Dominick

 
Download:
LA Font – Fine Lines [mp3]

http://www.myspace.com/thelafont
http://www.origamiorigami.com/

The Flashcards at Molly Malone’s

It’s that time of the year again: time for Kazai Rex to join its Zord with the Zords of other fine local musicians to create our very own Megazord, which we like to call The Flashcards & Friends. As always, the lineup and instrumentation will be changing a little bit. Core members Mark Saul (guitar, vocals) and Danny Langa (piano, vocals) will be joined onstage by Austin Bauer (lead guitar), Dominick Duhamel (bass), Sean Kearney (guitar), Randi Oerlemans (backup vocals, tambourine) and John Higgins (percussion). We expect it to be a phonically fantastic fiesta and we’d love you to join us. It’s taking place at the esteemed Molly Malone’s in Hollywood on July 31 at 9PM. In the meantime, here’s a little video Mark made, which uses a short clip (shot by Ilana Berger who, you will probably notice, breaks the fourth wall during the kazoo-accented second verse) from our most recent practice:

 


http://theflashcards.com
http://www.mollymalonesla.com/

LA Font

So anyone who’s been to a Kazai Rex show lately is probably familiar with our good friends LA Font; they’ve joined us onstage at the Airliner, Spaceland, and Synchronicity Space, and will be joining us, The Body Parts, and Rabbits Running at Echo Curio on August 21st for what will be a show so awesome that a word to appropriately describe it has not yet been invented. Anyway, imagine if Stephen Malkmus were from middle America and were a bit more of an asshole, and you’d get something like LA Font. And I mean that in the best possible way.

The reason I bring them up now is this: they’ve just recently finished their eleven-track debut album and, presumably, it’ll be coming out soon (you can (and should) listen to the excellent track “Fine Lines” on their Myspace). This is an album you’re going to want to have the day it comes out. You’re going to want to be on the ground floor. Because I am convinced this band is going places. To me, there are two kinds of bands you listen to: bands you like and bands you believe in. I like hundreds of bands, maybe even up to a thousand. I believe in, oh, maybe forty or fifty. And none of them so young, so undiscovered, so local, so full of potential as this one. It’s fucking exciting, being present at this stage in their career, and I want to be able to share that. I’m an LA Font evangelist; lock your doors and unplug your phones.

 

Also, they now have shirts for sale, which you can also find on their Myspace. I have one. It’s awesome. Here’s a ridiculous picture of me wearing it in a small cave:

More, equally giddy updates on the album and on the music videos they’re currently working on will be posted as they come.

http://www.myspace.com/thelafont
 
– Dominick

Frank Stallone & Klum @ Club Good Hurt

So my buddy Joe Fraley’s band Klum is playing at Club Good Hurt in Mar Vista tomorrow (July 10) at 11PM. Now, Klum is excellent (trust me; I saw them two nights ago and am already itching to see them again) and they are reason alone to be there. However, playing right before them (at 10PM) is Frank Stallone. Yes, he is the brother of Sylvester Stallone. Yes, he wrote the number one single “Far From Over” for the movie Staying Alive (1983) whose music video follows:

 

How the hell do you say no to that? You don’t. I’ll see you there.

http://www.myspace.com/klum
http://www.myspace.com/frankstallonemusic
http://www.goodhurt.net/

– Dominick

The Brothers Landau CD Release Show

Check out the ridiculous promo video our friends The Brothers Landau made for their album release show, which will take place this Friday, July 2 at the Unknown Theater. Wait, you ask, but doesn’t Kazai Rex have a show at Molly Malone’s that night? It’s true, we do, but we play early and The Brothers Landau play late; making the short drive between venues after our set would make for a lovely night of music indeed. And, if you truly want to reach for the sublime, you can find a way to duplicate yourself and catch Ana Caravelle and Asura at Echo Curio that very same night. So much good music, so little time. Sigh.

http://thebrotherslandau.com/
http://www.myspace.com/anacaravelle
http://www.myspace.com/iamasura

– Dominick

Upcoming Shows: Kazai Rex & Friends

http://www.myspace.com/bikosiloveyou

 

http://www.myspace.com/siberiansummercamp
http://www.myspace.com/thebodyparts

The Stone Foxes’ “Stomp”

I met San Francisco’s The Stone Foxes through Matt Lindsay (of Th Mrcy Hot Sprngs), who lives in their basement and sleeps sharing a wall with their practice space, for which I pity him. His situation would be much worse if the Stone Foxes sucked, but they don’t, not by a long shot. Old school blues rock (in my opinion) is a tired genre, one that’s hard to sound fresh in, but these boys don’t seem to notice. “Stomp” (from their forthcoming sophomore album, Bears and Bulls, out July 6) is a simple, percussive romp that doesn’t reinvent the wheel so much as show you how awesome the wheel was in the first place. Check out their new music video below for some hilarious fun times. – Dominick

 


http://www.thestonefoxes.com/

The Flashcards

For those of you who don’t already know, The Flashcards is the moniker of songwriting duo Mark Saul and Kazai Rex’s own Danny Langa. Their music is a fiesta of classic pop songwriting, the tracks brimming with jangly tambourines, sixties backup harmonies, and elastic basslines. In short, it’s good, old-fashioned fun that’ll put a smile on your face and a spring in your step.

The band’s live membership is ever-changing, containing anywhere from two to eleven musicians, but almost always contains several members of Kazai Rex. At Genghis Cohen this Saturday, April 17, Mark and Danny will be joined onstage by Mike Adams, Matt Slamon, Randi Oerlemans, and myself (Dominick). It’s going to be a grand old time. We’d love to see you there!

 
Right-click, save-as to download:
The Flashcards – Can It Be That Easy? [mp3]
The Flashcards – Go to Sleep [mp3]
 
http://www.theflashcards.com
http://www.genghiscohen.com/

Video: Dominick w/ Th Mrcy Hot Sprngs

Check out this video of Dominick playing drums with San Francisco feedback factory Th Mrcy Hot Sprngs at the Uptown in Oakland on December 30, 2009:

There are plenty more videos from that show and about a hundred others, which you can find at Th Mrcy Hot Sprngs’ Youtube channel, Do the Feedback.

Rabbits Running

Rabbits Running, March 19th at the Cat Club on Sunset

After a pair of gigs at Mr. T’s Bowl (the first one’s tonight!), we will be playing at Sync Space on 5/14 with some of our friends LA Font and Rabbits Running. Before that, though, you can watch Rabbits Running play their first ever West Coast show this Friday night at The Cat Club. Seriously, the music’s great.

Listen to it for yourself; their 5 song EP is available for free on their website. My personal favorite is “3 Feet Tall,” which is very Kid A-esque in it’s execution yet doesn’t sound like a knock-off. Robbie Fitzsimmons and his group are new to the LA scene, but I suspect they’ll be happily welcome.

Upcoming Shows:

3/19 – The Cat Club, 8pm
5/14 – Sync Space (w/ us, Kazai Rex!)

~ John

New Body Parts Promo Video

Our good friends the Body Parts made this video to promote their upcoming shows, at two of which (the 26th and 27th) Kazai Rex will also be performing:

Non Projects / Asura

Non Projects is a local record label that was started last year by our friend Brian Simon. They’ve been doing pretty well so far, their lineup so far consisting of our good friends and endless sources of inspiration Ryan York (aka Asura), Ana Caravelle, Nicholas Morera, and Simon’s own project, Anenon. Their music is revelatory, their shows endless fun. Their mission statement follows:

Non Projects is a record label dedicated to the support and discovery of Los Angeles’ most innovative artists and composers. Mislaid within an ever-changing and confused recording landscape, Non Projects offers imaginative works of art and sound. With the aim to showcase each artist’s devotion to their love of music and the joy of uncovering hidden and undiscovered sounds and resonances, each release is available with supplemental materials providing a commonly forgotten tangible experience no longer associated with acquiring music.

If you head over to their website you can check out a selection of excellent tracks, read about a selection of their inspirations, and singing up for their mailing list. But, perhaps most importantly, you can obtain a copy of the inaugural Non Projects release, Asura’s self-titled debut:



I’ve had the album for almost a month and can’t recommend it more. To call it electronic music would be to sell it short; it’s a genre-bending work that demands repeated listens to fully absorb. It’s experimental without being alienating, gorgeous without being sugarcoated, minimal without feeling empty. I think what I respect most about this album is the restraint York shows throughout; though beautiful and affecting moments abound, the music is, overall, meticulous and understated; in my opinion, these traits are both hallmarks of artistic maturity, hallmarks that are rare and almost startling in a debut work. Buy it, buy it, buy it.

Right-click, save-as to download:
Asura – Manzanita [mp3]

www.nonprojects.net
www.myspace.com/iamasura

– Dominick