French pop icons romance and rock L.A.

Charles Aznavour croons to fans' delight and Johnny Hallyday shakes it up in separate shows.

French expatriates living in Los Angeles got a reminder of home this week at separate concerts by Charles Aznavour and Johnny Hallyday, two aging giants in French pop music whose relatively limited renown in the United States seems only to have endeared them more deeply to their fans. When Aznavour asked which language he should sing his next song in during his performance Sunday night at the Gibson Amphitheatre, the response from the audience came quickly and with audible pride: "En français!"

The shows illustrated plenty of differences between the singers and the traditions from which they descend: Aznavour and the lyric-driven chanson versus Hallyday and his Continental take on American rock 'n' roll.

But there were similarities too, including each man's all-black wardrobe and a shared repose that worked in appealing opposition to the melodrama in both singers' material.

For Aznavour, 87, that low-key assurance felt like the natural product of the countless hours he's spent onstage over the last half century, playing gigs fundamentally indistinguishable from Sunday's.

Backed by a slick eight-piece band, the singer pondered romance and nostalgia in "L'Amour C'est Comme un Jour" and "La Bohème," punctuating his words with understated facial expressions; "What Makes a Man," Aznavour's well-known depiction of a lonely drag queen, was draped in existential gloom, tender but cool to the touch.

Occasionally his reserve turned dreary, as in "Yesterday, When I Was Young" and "She," his biggest English-language hit.

Mostly, though, Aznavour projected a kind of très chic fatalism that seemed open still to fresh disappointment.

Performing for the first time in L.A. (where he's nevertheless lived since the early 1970s), Hallyday, 68, kept his mustachioed upper lip similarly stiff Tuesday night at the Orpheum Theatre.

Album review: Santigold's 'Master of My Make-Believe'

If a rebellion ever comes, someone had better give Santigold the microphone. Her messages, even at their most sloganeering, are coded for the dance floor, and the global approach of her compositions lends them a communal sense of urgency. 'We're the keepers,' Santigold sings near the end of the album, and as the brightly textured keyboards rise to meet the singalong vibe, she drops the bomb: 'While we sleep in America our house is burning down.'

That's as close as Santigold gets to any sort of current-events statement on 'Master of My Make-Believe,' her second album and first in four years. It's a sleek effort, with 11 songs that come in at under 40 minutes, and it opens with a bracing call to arms in 'Go!' With help from Yeah Yeah Yeahs members Karen O and Nick Zinner, and production from Q-Tip and Switch, the song is techno-futurism mixed with African beats, and its images of fast food and winter palaces hint at class warfare.

'We know that we want more,' Santigold sings on the more hopeful 'Disparate Youth,' in which Zinner crashes her worldly dance party with intermittent guitar strikes. All the while, Santigold dips in and out of genres as if she's sporting musical camouflage, including the big-beat hip-hop of 'Freak Like Me,' the touching balladry of 'The Riot's Gone' and the tribal electronics of 'Big Mouth.' Throughout, Santigold never stops playing spin-the-globe, and she also never loses sight of her mission to keep listeners moving.

Santigold
'Master of My Make-Believe'
Downtown/Atlantic
Three and a half stars (Out of four)

ALSO:

The starry-eyed romanticism of Magic Wands' 'Aloha Moon'

Stagecoach 2012: Brad Paisley talks Tupac image, new album

Grimes, Cults, Grouplove to headline free Make Music Pasadena

-- Todd Martens

Image: Santigold at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2012. Credit: Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times

Stagecoach 2012: The wrap-up, stats, random moments

Final stats, thoughts and impressions from the 2012 Stagecoach Country Music Festival that took place Friday through Sunday at the Empire Polo Club in Indio:

' Indio Police spokesman Ben Guitron said his department and other city emergency teams overall were "very pleased" with new measures taken to alleviate traffic problems going in and out of Stagecoach. Shuttles to and from area hotels helped considerably, he said, even though far fewer attendees used shuttle buses than those who attended Coachella two weekends earlier. Close to 25,000 people used the shuttles during Coachalla, only around 3,000-4,000 did so at Stagecoach. But more Stagecoach-goers camp in adjoining campgrounds than at Coachella.

Guitron reported a total of 139 arrests as of 6:30 p.m. Sunday, the vast majority for alcohol-related offenses. That compared to 134 arrests on the first weekend of Coachella, and 102 on its second weekend, mostly for a combination of alcohol and drug issues. The most serious incident was a sexual assault on a 17-year-old girl, who was attacked by three men on her way into Stagecoach on Friday night. The girl was taken to a local hospital and treated. The three men fled, and Indio Police are investigating, asking anyone with information on the incident to call (760) 391-4057.

PHOTOS: The scene at Stagecoach 2012

' One key logistical change this year was the cordoning off of several 'standing room only' sections of lawn near the stage but behind the reserved/VIP seating area immediately in front of the Mane Stage where all the big guns played, including Brad Paisley, Jason Aldean, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, Sheryl Crow and Alabama. It allowed more fans closer access to the festival's headliners. In years past, die-hard Stagecoach goers would arrive early, much like the homesteaders of yore, and plant blankets and lawn chairs, occupying in all areas close to the main stage. The new standing room sections allowed more mobile festival goers to check out performances on the Mustang and Palomino stages and still be able to get relatively close to the main stage acts after sundown. Goldenvoice capped the ticket sales this year at 55,000.

' Favorite instrument of the weekend: the gas-tank bass cobbled together and employed Sunday by Split Lip Rayfield member Jeff Eaton, a single string variation on the old-school washtub bass, the version used a day earlier by San Fernando Valley's Old Man Markley.

' Favorite T-shirt slogan of the weekend: 'Rehab Is for Quitters.'

' Festivals such as Stagecoach and Coachella often serve as weekend soundtracks for those who aren't totally immersed in the music. One woman sat near the back of the lawn Friday night during Aldean's closing performance, far enough that the audio from the stage and the video on the bank of screens near her were a couple of seconds out of sync, and happily read a book on her Kindle.

Stagecoach 2012: Some highlights -- Miranda Lambert, Dave Alvin

After a relatively low-key first day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival on Friday, with just a half-dozen acts on a single stage, the music kicked into high gear Saturday. On the second day, all three stages were up and running with 17 more acts representing country, pop-country, alt-country and every other type of hybrid country music under the desert sun.

That's downright modest compared to the total sensory and schedule overload of the 143 acts that played the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival for the two previous weekends, but still enough to create some hard choices among simultaneously scheduled performers.

For instance, do you catch 85-year-old bluegrass master Ralph Stanley at the expense of a rare chance to hear singer-songwriter J.D. Souther, one of the architects of the Southern California country-rock sound that's been the template for much of what's been coming out of Nashville for the last two decades? And then miss out on rising Texas singer songwriter Sunny Sweeney, who was on the Mane Stage at the same time as Stanley and Souther?

PHOTOS: The scene at Stagecoach 2012

Such are the dilemmas of Stagecoach 2012.

One solution: in a music festival equivalent of culinary grazing, attempt to get a representative, if truncated, sampling of as many bands as possible.

Here are some highlights from the first two days:

-- Miranda Lambert: The sassy Texas singer-songwriter headlined on Saturday with a performance that firmly demonstrated why she's become a full-blown star. All the elements are clicking for her: fresh and insightful songwriting, commanding stage presence and a wonderfully distinctive voice, all working together in service of celebrating and empowering the predominantly female crowd that makes up country's core audience.

-- Dave Alvin & the Guilty Ones; You'd be hard-pressed this weekend, or any weekend for that matter, to hear songs that reach deeper or ring truer than Alvin's portraits of people who often struggle without earthly reward for their efforts. Whether on his old Blasters/X classic "Fourth of July" or a more recent song such as "Black Rose of Texas," Alvin unfailingly hits the mark.

Stagecoach 2012: Steve Martin goes whole hog in Indio

It was with some sense of deja vu that Steve Martin pulled into Stagecoach for a performance Saturday that had him and the Steep Canyon Rangers slotted to play immediately after bluegrass music patriarch Ralph Stanley, a situation similar to one in which he and Stanley shared a bill at Carnegie Hall a couple years ago.

"I asked who was going on when, and they said Ralph was opening," Martin said on his tour bus while relaxing on a bench seat with two banjos. "I said, 'No, Ralph Stanley doesn't open for me, I open for him.' So I came out and played a couple of songs and then he went on."

Martin has thrown himself whole hog into his music career after releasing a critically well-received, and Grammy-winning, debut music album in 2009, "The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo."

PHOTOS: The scene at Stagecoach 2012

"I haven't given up," he said with obvious delight in his voice. "I'm still very interested, not only in the banjo-playing but in the songwriting. We've now got enough material for a third album and a fourth one. That's all in the works."

One of the songs for his next bluegrass album includes a poem by W.H. Auden, "Calypso," which Martin set to music.

"What happened," he said, "was my wife was reading this poem and she said, 'You know, this really sounds like a bluegrass song.' I read it and I thought the same thing. So after I wrote the music I emailed the song to his estate.

"The estate is one guy, a professor, and when when he heard the song he was thrilled. It was part of a group of poems that were meant to be songs, and it originally had music written by Benjamin Britten -- very atonal, 12-tone weird stuff and it was maybe great for 1935."

Martin has not given it a title yet, but planned to include it in his Stagecoach set.

RELATED:

Stagecoach 2012: Backstage with Jason Aldean

The Mavericks come 'full circle' at Stagecoach festival

Stagecoach 2012: Eli Young Band welcomes the dreamers

-- Randy Lewis

Image: Steve Martin performs with the Steep Canyon Rangers on the Mustang Stage at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

Stagecoach 2012: The Unforgiven return with punk attitude intact

It took two years of behind-the-scenes wrangling, but the members of the '80s Inland Empire cowpunk-metal band the Unforgiven were rounded up for their first concert performance in more than a quarter century Sunday at Stagecoach.

"Some of you might know we've been on a bit of a break -- like 25 years," lead singer Steve Jones told the audience spread out across the Palomino Stage at Indio's Empire Polo Club early Sunday afternoon. 

And this reunion clearly wasn't a painless process for the band, which became the focus of a major label bidding war not long after the group formed in 1984.

PHOTOS: The scene at Stagecoach 2012

"Some of us didn't get along so well," Jones confessed. "So we've taken to calling the rehearsals 'group therapy.' "

The reunion was the idea of Goldenvoice chief Paul Tollett, whose firm, along with AEG Live, puts on Stagecoach and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival over consecutive weekends on the Indio grounds.

"I used to love these guy so much," said Tollett, who has been putting on concerts across Southern California for three decades, looking on with a grin from the crowd. "They were Stagecoach before there was Stagecoach."

Rolling Stones' 'Exile' as feature film? Casting Mick and Keith

Last weekend it was reported that a film production company helmed by Richard Branson, the brains behind the Virgin empire, had acquired the rights to "Exile on Main St.: A Season in Hell with the Rolling Stones," author Robert Greenfield's 2008 book on the Rolling Stones circa 1971, when they were exiled in France and making their now-classic double album, "Exile on Main St."

Keith Richards' yarns about that time in France are some of the highlights of his 2011 autobiography, "Life," in which he wrote of being strung out on heroin, running with Gram Parsons, dating Anita Pallenberg and, basically, creating the living definition of the rock star life while working out "Exile."

The story has all the ingredients you'd want out of a rock biopic: sex, drugs, running from the law, a French mansion called Villa Nellcôte, and a band, the Rolling Stones, at the peak of its powers (and ragtag beauty). 

INTERACTIVE: Who should play Mick Jagger and Keith Richards?

Wrote Richards of that time: "We had a record to cut and knew that if we failed, then the English [tax authorities] would have won. And this house, the Bedouin encampment, contained anywhere from twenty to thirty people at a time, which never bothered me, because I have the gift of not being bothered or because I was focusing, with assistance, on the music."

But there's one major concern with such a film: Casting Mick and Keith, two rock figureheads whose portrayals will be key to whether the project is as cool as the band was at that time, or a laugh-out-loud cheesefest. Pick the wrong Mick, and you've got problems; cast a parody Keef, and the whole thing fails.

With this in mind, we have a few early casting suggestions, including a number of wild-card ideas -- Rooney Mara as Richards and Angelina Jolie as Jagger? -- that could, if "A Season in Hell" is ever produced, make it a winner. 

RELATED:

Rolling Stones shine a light on 'Exile on Main St.'

Mick and Keith remember making 'Exile on Main St.'

The other 'Exile': Celebrating Pussy Galore's cover version

-- Randall Roberts

Photo: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards at Villa Nellcôte in the early 1970s. Credit: Dominique Tarlé / Universal Music Group

Stagecoach 2012: Backstage with Jason Aldean

Jason Aldean vividly remembers playing the first Stagecoach Country Music Festival back in 2007, when the Macon, Ga., singer looked out on a very different scene than the one that greeted him Friday night as the opening-night headliner for the festival's 2012 edition.

Five years ago Aldean was one of the opening acts, charged with trying to capture the attention of a relatively sparse crowd under less than ideal conditions. That was well before he had the biggest selling country album of the year, a feat he achieved last year with his fourth release, "My Kinda Party," which also was named album of the year by the Country Music Assn. and has generated four No. 1 hits, the fifth single on its way up the charts now.

"Man, it's a tough gig," Aldean, 35, said on his tour bus a couple of hours before he and his band would perform. 'You go out in the middle of the day, it's 100-something degrees. A lot of times when you play early on, not everybody's at the show yet -- they're hanging out in their campers or whatever they doing. It's not like later in the night, when the weather starts to cool down and everybody comes out. It's a tough gig, to go out and let people see what it is you do. It's tough for an artist who has to go on early in the day, and we did our fair share of that stuff.'

PHOTOS: The scene at Stagecoach 2012

This year, however, those early slots were left to others ' on Friday it was the Eli Young Band, Brett Eldredge and Sara Evans who were on stage before the sun went down on the Empire Polo Club in Indio.

By the time Aldean arrived, Alabama had pumped the crowd up with a generous dose of clap-and-stomp-along hits largely drawn from its heyday in the '80s and '90s.

Aldean and the other performers Friday also had the advantage of no competition or distraction from music emanating from other stages. In expanding Stagecoach from the typical two days to three this year, event organizers served up a low-key first-day offering, with just a single stage up and running and half a dozen acts playing from late afternoon into the evening.

'To come back here a few years later and go from opener to headliner of the show is pretty cool, especially the first night when you know everybody's excited to get it going,' he said, stretching out in the back of a tour bus parked next to the Mane Stage.

Stagecoach 2012: Eli Young Band welcomes the dreamers

The Eli Young Band just got the music off to a pragmatically idealistic start for the sixth Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio.

As the first act to play this year's expanded three-day event, the Texas band's frontman Mike Eli posed a question to the sea of cowboy and cowgirl hats splayed in front of him across the grass at the Empire Polo Club: "How many of you are dreamers?"

It was intended as a lead-in to the group's new single, "Even If It Breaks Your Heart," but it set up a no-pressure spirit out of the gate.

"Whether it's playing a guitar, being a songwriter, playing the flute or just finishing that beer in front of you," he said, "follow your dreams."

Plenty were heeding his advice on the final part of that list of dreams as the thermometer poked well into the '90s, although a light late-afternoon breeze is helping to mitigate the heat.

Either country music is a young person's passion, or festival-going in the desert is, judging by the vast majority of teens and eo-somethings who make up the crowd, which will swell to 55,000 per day once everyone arrives for the event that sold out weeks in advance -- a first for the SoCal country blowout.

Either way, Stagecoach 2012 is officially under way.

Yee haw!

RELATED:

PHOTOS: The faces of Coachella

The Mavericks come 'full circle' at Stagecoach festival

Coachella 2012: Variety in weather, but what about the music? 

-- Randy Lewis

Photo: Mike Eli performs with the Eli Young Band on the first day of the three-day Stagecoach Country Music Festival at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, Calif. Credit: Al Schaben / Los Angeles Times

Arcade Fire, Bon Iver players get a solo spotlight Saturday

Arcade Fire, Bon Iver and Devendra Banhart are fronted by charismatic singers. But when they play live, much of the power of their sound comes from a large cast of inventive players who stand at the edge of the spotlight. Three of those instrumentalists are teaming up for a rare night of their experimental solo work this Saturday, showcasing the skill that goes into arranging for some of the biggest acts in indie rock.

Colin Stetson is a baritone saxophonist who has won acclaim in jazz and rock circles as an opener for Arcade Fire and a collaborator with Bon Iver. His new album "New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges" was released on the acclaimed Montreal label Constellation, but he's also played esteemed jazz festivals like London Jazz and Moers. Sarah Neufeld is a full-time Arcade Fire member (she's the violinist with the punky haircut sawing and shouting at the front of the stage) and that band's side project Bell Orchestre, but she's recently been pursuing solo composing work for films. Gregory Rogove is a longtime Banhart cohort, and his new album "Piana" is a collection of his solo piano compositions played by John Medeski (of Medeski, Martin & Wood). 

All three play their new solo work at the Arts District gallery/performance space Dilettante this Saturday at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $13, and the show should bring some deserved attention to the individual talents that made some beloved recent indie albums feel so rich. 

RELATED:

Album Review: Colin Stetson's New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges

Grammys: Arcade Fire's unlikely rise

Live review: Arcade Fire at the Shrine Auditorium

--August Brown

Photo: Colin Stetson. Credit: Keith Klenowski

In Rotation: Rocket Juice & the Moon's eponymous debut

In Rotation: "Rocket Juice & the Moon." A series in Sunday Calendar about what Times writers and contributors are listening to right now...

Rocket Juice & the Moon, 'S/T' (Honest Jon's)

You'd think that given Damon Albarn's voluminous output, the quality would suffer, but with each of his myriad releases, be it as part of Blur, Gorillaz, the Good, the Bad & the Queen, Mali Music -- or as an opera composer -- he manages to build something solid and rhythmic. Much is due to his great choice in collaborators, and on this new project he's snagged two masters: L.A. bassist Flea, and former Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen.

On paper, that's an amazing rhythm section, and on the trio's new collaborative self-titled album, it creates a funky kind of magic. Though Albarn is a Brit and Flea a Californian, the record in its heart is Nigerian, built to honor the ideas born in Afrobeat, the rhythmic mish-mash of James Brown-funk and African beats created by Fela Kuti.

That vibe flowers repeatedly on 'Rocket Juice': be it the strange keyboard solo on 'Extinguished,' over which Malian vocalist Cheick Tidiane Seck roams; the exquisitely heavy Erykah Badu-sung jam 'Hey Shooter,' which features New York's Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and L.A. bassist Thundercat; or the Blur-suggestive song 'Poison,' featuring a nice Albarn vocal turn.

ALSO:

In Rotation: Magic Wands' "Aloha Moon"

Screaming Females talk soft and play loud

Album review: Jack White's 'Blunderbuss'

-- Randall Roberts

Photo: Rocket Juice & the Moon, from left, Damon Albarn, Tony Allen and Flea. Credit: Tom Sheehan

Chemical Brothers' 'Don't Think' at ArcLight Hollywood on Saturday

Big-beat techno duo the Chemical Brothers have long used wide-screen visuals to amplify their pulverising drums and synth work. The concert doc "Don't Think" captured their latest touring get-up on 21 cameras at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan, but it played only a limited L.A. engagement in January.

Fans get another chance to catch it this Saturday, when it screens at a one-off 10 p.m. session at ArcLight Hollywood. Chemical Brothers' 2010 show at the Hollywood Bowl was one of the loudest, most physical electronica sets I'd ever seen, and the film -- produced by Ridley Scott's music video and documentary arm Black Dog Films -- earned strong reviews for evoking the band's sonic and visual barrage.

The film's director, Adam Smith, hosts a Q&A after the screening. One thing we'd like to know: Does he have any advice on getting that demon clown to stop haunting your dreams?

ALSO:

Beach Boys kick off reunion tour

Live review: The Chemical Brothers at the Hollywood Bowl

Grimes, Cults, Grouplove headline Make Music Pasadena

-- August Brown

Photo: The Chemical Brothers, Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, perform at the Hollywood Bowl in August 2010. Credit: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times

Kaskade, Maxwell, The Weeknd: This week's on-sales

A listing of upcoming concerts across Southern California, with on-sale dates in parentheses.

Staples Center
Kaskade, July 27 (Fri.); Maxwell, July 20-21 (Sat.)

Hollywood Forever
The Weeknd, May 5 (Wed.)

El Rey Theatre

The Cribs, June 15; Ceu, June 21 (now); Rashan Patterson, June 23 (Fri.)

Fonda Theatre

Alabama Shakes, Aug. 14 (Fri.)

Nokia Theatre

Gipsy Kings, Aug. 18 (Fri.)

Honda Center

3 Gigantes, Aug. 24 (Fri.)

Oak Canyon Ranch

Hootenanny with Rancid, July 7 (Thurs.)

Club Nokia

Santigold, June 1 (Fri.)

The Orpheum
Jackson Browne, June 9 (Fri.)

Gibson Amphitheatre
Pepe Aguilar, Aug. 4; Rush, Nov. 19 (Fri.); Chicago & the Doobie Brothers, July 15 (Sat.)

Long Beach Arena
Phish, Aug. 15 (Fri.)

Honda Center
Rush, Nov. 17 (Fri.)

The Wiltern
The Tallest Man on Earth, June 12; Dirty Projectors, July 28; fun., Aug. 17-18; Ray Davies, July 21 (Fri.)

Hollywood Palladium
Five Finger Death Punch, Aug. 28; Fiona Apple, July 29; Scissor Sisters, June 16; The Cult, June 23 (Fri.)

Greek Theatre
The Jacksons: Unity Tour, July 22 (Fri.); Buddy Guy, Aug. 7; Andrew Bird, Aug. 12; Regina Spektor, Aug. 14; Pink Martini, Sept. 9 (Sat.)

The Echo/Echoplex
Nightmare & the Cat, May 4; White Hills, May 11; Friends, June 26; Death Grips, July 1; Mates of State, July 5 and 7; Shiner, Aug. 18 (now); Polica, Aug. 21 (Fri.)

The Satellite
The Life & Times, June 12; Riverboat Gamblers, May 22 (now)

Troubadour
Ane Brun, May 15; the BoDeans, May 16; Mike McCready, May 17; Great Lake Swimmers, May 18; Kill the Academy, May 20; Sparta, May 22 (now)

Bootleg Bar
We Are Serenades, May 25; Southeast Engine, July 31; Little Barrie, May 24; Toh Kay, May 5 (now)

City National Grove of Anaheim
Volbeat, July 10 (now)

Santa Barbara Bowl
Crosby, Stills & Nash, Sept. 28; Colbie Caillat & Gavin DeGraw, Aug. 17 (Sat.)

House of Blues
Cannibal Corpse, July 20; Nekromantix, July 1 (Fri.)

House of Blues Anaheim
Thrice, June 17 (Thurs.); Santigold, May 31; Lit, June 23; Wild Child, June 1 (Fri.)

The Roxy
Evolove, May 7; Action Bronson, June 14; the Cartunes, June 15 (now)

Venice Beach Summerfest
Eileen Carey, July 28 (now)   

RELATED:

Kaskade sets Staples Center headline date

The Weeknd to play Hollywood Forever May 5

Maxwell to perform entire discography on mini-tour

Photo: R & B singer Maxwell at the Shrine Auditorium. He plays at Staples Center on July 20 and 21. Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

L.A. Unheard: Sneakpeek looks back in anger [Song premiere]

The band: Sneakpeek, a fuzzy, fuming Echo Park quartet.

The music: After announcing itself with a trio of ear-frying self-released demos over a year ago, the band's gearing up for its full-length debut. Sneakpeek's still-noisy nine-track album offers up heavy, druggy guitar riffs that'd make Kurt Vile (or Lou Reed) proud, breaking from the garage assault with "Another Girl to You," which has the gentleness of the Velvet's "Sunday Morning." The latter track is written as a break-up ballad, but when she sings, "I don't want to be another girl to you," frontwoman Dora Hiller's words arrive as a sly threat.

The random: Hiller previously played in an all-girl folk band before turning up the volume and enlisting boyfriend Aric Bohn (previously of the Willowz) and a pair of collaborators for the new project.

The details: Sneakpeek is wrapping up its full-length debut now for a release later this year, with the band's next show set for the Echo on May 22.

The music: In a Pop & Hiss premiere, download the band's "Another Girl to You" below.

MP3: Sneakpeek -- "Another Girl to You"

ALSO:

Screaming Females talk soft and play loud

The antics of Le Butcherettes make a mom worry

Hard Summer books Skrillex, Miike Snow, Boys Noize, James Murphy

--David Greenwald

Photo: Echo Park quartet Sneakpeek, which will release its noisy debut album this year. Credit: Sneakpeek

Live: The Beach Boys kick off 50th anniversary tour in Tucson

If opening night is any indication, the Beach Boys will celebrate not only their sound, but the music that gave birth to it and was inspired by it. They performed songs by Phil Spector, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, and the Mamas and the Papas, among others, while images of the band in its glory days cascaded across the big screen.

And if Wilson's distant onstage presence in Tucson is a hint, it's going to be a long summer for him.

Wilson, the sole living brother from the trio that included Dennis and Carl, who has avoided the Beach Boys stage like the plague -- while his revolutionary aesthetic has been reverently honored by new generations.

The quintet of clean-cut, handsome young men from Hawthorne sent out a four-song demo that put sound and lyrics to the uniquely L.A. lifestyle of beaches, breezes, bikinis and muscle cars. Two of those songs, "Surfin' Safari" and "Surfer Girl," have become singalong classics, and the band offered them early in the set.

These hits set the course for much that followed: from "Help Me, Rhonda" to "Wouldn't It Be Nice" to "Little Deuce Coupe," the Beach Boys brought the massive Wilson production sound to life. While the principals played along -- Wilson on white grand piano, Jardine and Marks on guitar, Johnston on keyboards, and Love on vocals -- a bevy of young backing musicians pushed forth driving rhythms (three percussionists), guitar texture (at times, as many as five guitarists), keyboards (three of them), and a virtual choir of male voices filling songs whose age and design has rendered them exquisite antiquities.

The music they presented embodies a SoCal, endless summer archetype.

The band understands this and offers evidence of this spirit in the Hawaiian shirts they wear -- and in the songs they still sing. When Love, whose warm, confident voice can still hit the notes effortlessly, sang his 1964 love letter to a motorcycle, "Little Honda," you could hear the wind blowing through the spokes. When Jardine harmonized on "Catch a Wave," his joy was infectious, especially when he pumped his fist and pointed at Wilson.

But Wilson didn't seem to be having much fun. Sitting behind his piano stone-faced, he feigned a smile a few times, and had to be nudged into acknowledging the crowd when they rose to give him his first ovation during his falsetto-intoned version of Lymon's "Why Do Fools Fall in Love."

He appeared to be residing within the Malibu of his mind at times, then ambivalent if not miserable in other moments. There's a reason why he stopped touring with the Beach Boys: He obviously doesn't like it.

One of the few times he tapped his foot and bounced his torso was during "Sloop John B," which opened the second, and much more vibrant, of the two sets. One of the night's high points, the band presented "Sloop" with the same rush-of-wind exuberance of the recording, a sharp reminder of a band at its peak. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" was equally inspiring, as were the odes to departed brothers Dennis and Carl, both of whom duetted from beyond via recordings -- Carl's lead on "God Only Knows" was gorgeous.

From the beaches in their youth to the casinos in their retirement years, there is certainly something bittersweet going on. Anyone who understands both nostalgia and the aging process will no doubt have an idea of the frayed edges, the relentlessness of singing the same songs over and over again for five decades, as Jardine, Love and Johnston have done. They have combated this by adding vocalists who can hit the notes they no longer can -- singer/guitarist/bandleader Jeff Foskett is the unsung workhorse of this show, who covers for Wilson on the more difficult notes.

Long ago turned men, the Beach Boys on the opening night of an impressively relentless schedule did what you'd expect, and did it quite well. Wilson and the band's art, those interlocking harmonic voices, exquisite arrangements and that summer feeling were celebrated 100 miles from Phoenix, where in 1962 "Surfin' Safari" got its first substantial airplay.

Even if the sight of five aging men offered visual confirmation that summer does indeed end, and winter can get a little tough, it doesn't mean you can't handle this reality, as the Beach Boys did, with both pride and grace.

ALSO:

Live review: Sinéad O'Connor at the El Rey

Live review: Ani DiFranco's show is fierce, tender

Review: Kelly Clarkson with Blake Shelton, Reba McEntire at Nokia

-- Randall Roberts

Photo: The Beach Boys' Mike Love, right, sings as Brian Wilson plays the piano. Credit: Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press.

Sinéad O'Connor cancels tour due to bipolar struggle

It seemed, as anyone who witnessed one of Sinéad O'Connor's two magnificent sold-out February shows at the El Rey could attest, that the enigmatic artist had put most of her troubles behind her. Though she described herself as "terrified," the 45-year-old O'Connor proved at those shows that her voice was still as pristine as when she stormed the pop charts with her 1987 debut album, "The Lion and the Cobra." Late Monday, however, O'Connor had some disappointing news for fans, revealing that she had canceled her upcoming U.S. tour due to her battles with bipolar disorder. 

The statement was posted on her personal website, which at the time of writing is inoperable, as well as her official Facebook page. "With enormous regret I must announce that I have to cancel all touring for the year as am very unwell due to bi polar disorder," read the statement. 

O'Connor has been open about her bipolar struggles. She discussed at length the disorder five years ago on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," revealing that she had thoughts of suicide. "The best way I can describe it to you is you're so sad, just terribly sad, that you're like a bucket of water with holes in it," O'Connor told Winfrey. "Every pore of you is crying and you don't even understand why or what."

In her public statement Monday, O'Connor said she suffered a "breakdown between December and March," and she had been advised by her doctors to cancel her tour, which is the one that brought her to Los Angeles. The outing was in support of her recently released album, 'How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?'

She said she failed to heed the advice and "didn't want to 'fail' or let anyone down as the tour was already booked to coincide with album release." "So very stupidly," continued the statement, "I ignored his advice to my great detriment, attempting to be stronger than I actually am."

Exclusive: Chris Brown teams with Ron English for toy line

Chris Brown is teaming with prolific street artist Ron English to create a limited line of collectible toys and art sculptures.

The joint venture, which Brown announced to Pop & Hiss, will be called Dum English and will be released through noted sculpture manufacturers Garageworks Industries and vinyl toy production house Made by Monsters. The line will launch in L.A. on May 2.

A limited launch of 1,000 toys will be made for the first run and an exhibition showcasing Brown's street art will open May 2 at the Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City. The show also will feature English's work and some behind-the-scenes glimpses of their creative process together.

Brown and English also will paint together on a life-size Dum English astronaut sculpture in front of gallery guests.

The Weeknd to play Hollywood Forever on May 5

The creepy and gauzy Toronto R&B act the Weeknd made its Southland-area debut at Coachella ' some of their first live shows as a band, period ' just two weeks ago. But now they've joined Sigur Ros, Flaming Lips and Bon Iver with the distinction of headlining their own show on the Fairbanks Lawn at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Tickets for the act's May 5 headlining date go on-sale at noon Wednesday at an eye-popping $30. Its  Coachella sets got strong reviews though, and we can't think of a more apropos place to hear "Initiation" than atop the graves of a bunch of movie stars.

RELATED:

PHOTOS: Coachella 2012

The Weeknd's headcase R&B

Sigur Ros to play Hollywood Forever in August

' August Brown

Photo: Abel Tesfaye, a.k.a. the Weeknd, performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio on April 15. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times.

Murray Gershenz's 300,000-plus record collection is no bestseller

He apologized when he interrupted the interview for this story to take a call from someone he assumed to be potential buyer. Instead, it was a casting agent inquiring about his availability for a Doritos commercial.

'I have made a lot of money doing the acting stuff, but a lot of it has gone to maintaining this place,' he said.

Gershenz, a former opera singer and synagogue cantor, admits the shop is now hemorrhaging cash. He pulled out a few months sales receipts to prove business isn't thriving: a buyer in New York paid $25.99 for a record by an obscure violist, another went to a buyer in Germany, and an old 45 of jazz trombonist Grover Mitchell went to a customer in Spain for $11.

Sarah Silverman on Music Man Murray from Richard Parks.

His musician son, Irv Gershenz, believes if they were able to get more of their inventory cataloged online, business would pick up. But they've had the manpower to log only about 12,000 records.
'Here's someone in Germany; they are only looking at 12,000 records,' said Irv of a buyer interested in the collection. 'Imagine how many they could find if the whole collection was there.'

Director Richard Parks decided in 2010 to make his first documentary about the elder Gershenz after he read about his plight in The Times. Parks shot the film last year, and it had its premiere in January at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival before getting distribution by the Documentary Channel. The picture also won best short documentary at the Chicago International Movies & Music Festival and will screen at festivals in San Francisco and Berlin.

'When I first got into records, my dad [composer-lyricist Van Dyke Parks, who scored the film] would tell me you have to go to Murray's,' Parks said. 'It was like the temple so he brought me here all the time.'

Gershenz would still like the collection to go to a museum or university, but 'the trouble there is they want it free. I'm not in a position to donate it. If I was a very wealthy person, I would.' Though he balks at the idea of splitting up the records to different sellers only looking for one genre, he knows he might be forced to do so.

Gershenz's asking price has dropped from more than $1 million to $500,000 ' a bargain considering the 12,000 records in the online inventory alone are worth $360,000.

Gershenz says the monthly operating costs to upkeep the store and three storage warehouses, which contain enough records to refill the shop a few times over, has reached more than $6,000. He said despite a renewed interest in vinyl, the digital age has stunted his business as today's generation has quicker access to free or low cost music.

'You have to be practical. If it turns out nobody can use the whole thing, then you have to break up the collection. I'm not doing enough business to maintain it,' Gershenz said as he shuffles through some of the rich history he's also collected: autographs from Mae West and Tiny Tim, memories of talking to Elvis and a handwritten note from Louis Armstrong on Satchmo letterhead.

As of press time, Gershenz is entertaining one offer that he believes is promising. Although he was mum on details in case other offers pour in after the film airs, he says it's for more than a quarter of a million but drastically less than the $500,000 that he's asking for.

'I don't have the money and time, and besides I'm gonna be 90 years old,' he said. 'I'm tired.'

RELATED:

Coachella 2012: Record Store Day comes early

Levon Helm 'one of the last true great spirits,' writes Bob Dylan

Record Store Day booty: Flaming Lips, Lee Hazlewood, Dinosaur Jr.

' By Gerrick D. Kennedy

Photo: Murray Gershenz Credit: Richard Parks

Kaskade sets Staples Center headline date

Fresh off two well-received Coachella sets, the electronica artist Kaskade already has another high-profile L.A. date booked. But the upcoming July 27 Staples Center set from the O.C.-based artist born Ryan Raddon is a landmark in its own right: it offically makes him an L.A. arena-rocker.

The show will be the first headlining Staples Center set from an electronic dance music artist. The venue is usually the top L.A. stop for touring pop acts like Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga.

Festivals like the Electric Daisy Carnival and Tiesto's Club Life College Invasion tour attracted larger crowds to outdoor venues in the L.A. area recently. But Kaskade's Staples set ' alongside major recent EDM events like Skrillex and Swedish House Mafia's Madison Square Garden shows ' suggests that promoters like AEG and Live Nation want to incorporate the top tier of EDM artists into pop's traditional major-headliner venues, and that mainstream fans don't see much of a cultural difference between the two worlds anymore.

Pop and EDM have been merging for years on recordings. This set shows their touring business models are blending as well.

RELATED:

Kaskade continues to break down walls

PHOTOS: Coachella 2012

TIMELINE: Coachella through the years

SHARE: Tweet us your photos and stories

' August Brown

Photo: Ryan Raddon, better known as DJ Kaskade, closes the Sahara tent and the second night of week two of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., April 21, 2012. Credit: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times

Chris Ethridge, founding member of Flying Burrito Brothers, dies

Members of the International Submarine Band chose a name for their new group that practically assured it would never rise above cult status. Sure enough, that band disappeared with barely a trace after making a handful of recordings in the mid-1960s. But after ISB members Gram Parsons and Chris Ethridge teamed up with ex-Byrds singer and songwriter Chris Hillman and steel guitarist Pete Kleinow to form the pioneering country-rock group the Flying Burrito Brothers, the ISB won itself permanent footnote status in the history of pop music.

Ethridge, who has died at 65 in Meridian, Miss., of complications from pancreatic cancer, was the group's bassist, and co-wrote several songs with Parsons, widely lauded as one of the most innovative figures in the marriage of country and rock in the 1960s. Ethridge also spent about eight years in Willie Nelson's touring band, a gig during which he recorded one of Nelson's most famous anthems, 'Whiskey River.'

'Here's what people don't know or don't remember,' Hillman told The Times on Monday. 'Three of Gram's greatest songs were co-written by Chris: those would be 'Hot Burrito #1,' 'Hot Burrito #2' and 'She.'

"And I've always said: Gram Parsons' greatest recorded vocals were those two ['Hot Burrito'] songs," Hillman said. "Maybe it's my opinion, but I was there and I know I never heard him sing better than he did on those two songs. He just nailed 'em.'

Hillman said he had spoken by phone over the weekend to Ethridge, who was unable to talk. Ethridge's daughter told Hillman that her father had been hospitalized with pneumonia following a round of chemotherapy for the cancer, which had been diagnosed in September.

Ethridge was born in 1947 and raised in Meridian ' where the man known as the father of country music, Jimmie Rodgers, grew up ' and moved when he was 17 to Los Angeles. There he met Parsons and fell in with the burgeoning group of musicians who came of age listening to Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and other seminal rock artists while also cultivating their passion for traditional country, bluegrass and folk music.

Coachella 2012: Three-digit temps bring thinner crowds

Stands selling frozen lemonade and water had wrap-around lines of dozens of people seeking cool relief, while the beer line in the VIP tent had only three people waiting for cold Heinekens. 

The weather has been harsh the entire weekend, particularly on Saturday, when the high reached upward of 105 degrees, only a few degrees shy of the 107-degree record for April 21 set in 1958, according to AccuWeather reports.

Intense heat on the Empire Polo Grounds could be the culprit behind visibly thinner crowds on Saturday, particularly in the afternoon, which made Santigold's turnout all the more impressive. Walking across the field wasn't the chore that it felt like on Friday or at any point during Weekend 1. 

While the Sahara tent thumped with raucous crowds as club kings David Guetta and Kaskade spun during Saturday night sets, the typically elbow-to-elbow vibe of the Gobi and Mojave tents didn't feel as cramped. There was room to float in and out of the audience during Kasabian and the lighter crowds made it that much more enjoyable to catch perfect sets from SBTRKT and Flying Lotus, even if the latter pulled out a hype man to rile up a crowd that was much less energetic than what he saw last week.

But then again, the weather was much different. 

Earlier Saturday as Coachella personnel sprayed the crowd, who were grateful for the cool droplets of mist, St. Vincent's haunting vocals filled the Gobi tent. But even the singer, born Annie Clark, seemed to take notice of her heat-stricken crowd and asked how they were doing.  

'Not in a cheesy rock way,' she clarified when she was met with screams. 'Like the sun was crazy today. In a medically speaking way, are you OK? I would give you all a ribbon or medal or just a case of [expletive] water for being here. You guys get MVP all the way.'

Indio police spokesman Benjamin Guitron said that despite the blistering weather conditions, they haven't had too many out-of-the-ordinary problems.  

'Everything has been good. We've been working with fire department, and although I can't [recall] how many heat-related issues we've had, there haven't been too many to raise concern.'

Guitron said police officials have been urging everyone to take it easy on both alcohol and sugary drinks. 

Still, not everyone has been on his or her best behavior. Guitron said they made 33 arrests Friday and 36 Saturday, mostly on alcohol and drug-related charges. As of Sunday afternoon, Indio Police hadn't made any arrests onsite, said Guitron, who noticed Saturday crowds appeared thinner, likely because of the weather. 

'People are still pretty festive,' Guitron said when asked if he noticed a difference in this weekend's crowd compared to last. 'I think people really want to enjoy themselves. The property here is really beautiful, and Goldenvoice has been great.'

Guitron said police officials didn't need to make many changes to accommodate Coachella's two consecutive weekends. 

'Everything is in place already. We work on a template,' he said. 'We meet regularly. We are always constantly looking for ways to maintain consistency. If there's a traffic issue, it's an adjustment. But our reward is seeing the hard work pay off.'

RELATED:

PHOTOS: Coachella 2012

TIMELINE: Coachella through the years

SHARE: Tweet us your photos and stories

MOBILE USERS: All you need to survive Coachella

' Gerrick D. Kennedy

twitter.com/gerrickkennedy

Photo: Singer Santi White ' a.k.a. Santigold ' performs onstage during Weekend 1 of the 2012 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Field on April 15 in Indio, Calif. Credit: Kevin Winter / Getty Images for Coachella.

Coachella 2012: That spicy, spicy, sun

As the blazing sun rose Saturday, the trickle of tweets and pics coming out of Coachella turned into a    full-fledged torrent, just like those produced by the water cannons that were apparently blasting people in the face all day long. But which is a better pick-me-up: St. Vincent soaking you from the stage or a set from the Vaccines that was straight out of "The Walking Dead"? Check out the Storify post below the fold for more Coachella questions, answers, and some sage advice about the importance of sunblock. 

Coachella 2012: A$AP Rocky, Master P pay tribute to Trayvon Martin

Rock and pop stars of all stripes occasionally have found reasons to go political, with mixed results. And that track record couldn't be more spotty for rappers -- just ask Kanye West, Wyclef Jean or Lupe Fiasco. 

Late Saturday night during A$AP Rocky's set in the Gobi tent, the buzzy Harlem rapper decided to get a little serious and touch on what he called 'something real important.'

COACHELLA 2012 | Full coverage

The change in tone was unexpected, as his A$AP Mob posse had just made room for another huge entourage as surprise guest veteran New Orleans rapper Master P and his No Limit family, including son Romeo, filled the stage to turn up P's platinum-selling 1998 anthem, 'Make Em Say Uhh!'

Coachella 2012: John Fogerty joins Black Keys in Levon Helm tribute

Yes, weekend two of Coachella can still present surprises. And so it was when rock legend John Fogerty joined Friday night's headliners the Black Keys to pay tribute to Levon Helm, who died Thursday from cancer.

Black Keys singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach called Helm, who was the drummer and a singer of the Band, "amazing and inspiring," and performed a soulful cover of "The Weight" with Fogerty. Earlier in the day another Helm tribute was made as the punk band Refused taped "RIP Levon Helm" to their bass drum.

 COACHELLA 2012 | Full coverage

The gesture by the Black Keys was touching and fitting in a set packed with explosive and gritty roots rock, including hits "I Got Mine" and "Lonely Boy."

Coachella 2012: Ximena Sariñana states the obvious

As day one of weekend two of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival dragged on Friday, a few artists seemed to have just as much fatigue as the sun-soaked audiences who came to see them. 

'It's really [expletive] hot,' Mexican singer-songwriter Ximena Sariñana shouted from behind her keyboard during her almost hushed set of Latin pop, sweat pouring down her face turning her glittery eyeshadow into murky streaks of gold. 

The intense 100-degree-plus weather transformed the Gobi tent into a human sauna as seemingly thousands packed the venue-turned-shelter like sardines for Gary Clark Jr.'s 4:30 p.m. set. Clark came ready for the heat, opting for a more casual white tank-top that clung to his frame as he worked up a well-deserved sweat from strumming his guitar. 

COACHELLA 2012 | Full coverage

With the sun reluctantly retreating for the evening, but leaving behind a warm aftermath, the best place to catch a breeze was atop the giant Ferris wheel that overlooks the Empire Polo Grounds. 

Other highlights (from the safety of the ground):

Coachella 2012: Record Store Day comes early

'Everyone who's here is here. It's not like they are going to run off to England with the records,' general manager Brian Faber said of the decision to put out Saturday's finds a day early. 'They get the full experience of Record Store Day with Coachella.'

Early Saturday, Zia looked nothing like the pictures of well-known spots like Amoeba that trickled onto Twitter. There were no crazy, wrap-around lines, and shoppers were more relaxed. One girl was on the hunt for Childish Gambino, but she couldn't care less if it was the limited 12' red vinyl edition of 'Heartbeat' that got 1,000 pressings. She just wanted a CD to make sure she could get it signed at his scheduled in-store appearance later that afternoon.  

Faber's shop continues to make the trek to Indio for both Coachella and Stagecoach, but this year the double-weekend experiment that ran into Record Store Day offered a unique opportunity to celebrate, even though the second weekend added to a logistical nightmare of packing up all of the product and taking it back to Arizona, replenishing the stock that ran out last weekend and making sure they had the limited-edition albums for Record Store Day.

"It took great people. These are the people who work in our store or who have in the past," Faber said as he pointed to the line of busy workers ringing up customers. "The people who come and go at our stores are fans."

Zia carries product of all the artists performing at Coachella who have items on shelves, and the store hands you a special compilation of the festival's acts after a purchase. To tease Saturday's musical scavenger hunt, they let out a select number of the reissue of At the Drive-In's EP 'Vaya' during Weekend One, which were gone within an hour. This week's stock went just as fast, Faber said. 

Another hot commodity was the release by Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, which features the psychedelic rock band collaborating with folks like Ke$ha, Bon Iver, Biz Markie, Yoko Ono and Erykah Badu '- oh, and the vinyl has some of the collaborators' blood pressed into it. Faber said the double LP 'flew off the shelves.'

'[Record Store Day] has reinvigorated the industry to be creative again,' Faber said as a stream of twenty-somethings streamed in and started reaching for vinyl. 

RELATED:

PHOTOS: Coachella 2012

TIMELINE: Coachella through the years

SHARE: Tweet us your photos and stories

MOBILE USERS: All you need to survive Coachella

-- Gerrick D. Kennedy 

twitter.com/gerrickkennedy

Photo: A Zia Records employee pulls a 7" vinyl version of Jimmy Fallon's "Tebowie" at their on-site location at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Record Store Day. Credit: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times

Coachella 2012: The antics of Le Butcherettes make a mom worry

Teri Suaréz is trying to finish a record. Her phone, however, won't stop interrupting. It's her mother. "She's freaking out," Suaréz said. 

This past Sunday, Suaréz sent her mother into a state of panic when, at the first weekend of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, she walked away from her guitar and keyboard and climbed to the top of a lighting rig. Then she locked her legs around it and leaned over backward. 

"That's why my mom is calling me," Suaréz said. "She said, 'Please don't ever do that again!' I said, 'Oh, no, Mom. I won't do that ever again. I'll be more careful. I swear.' But she's still really scared about it. She keeps calling to see if I'm OK."

COACHELLA 2012 | Full coverage

For now, yes, Suaréz is fine. If anything, the 22 year old is a little nervous herself. While Le Butcherettes concerts are known for their unpredictability, Suaréz has no intention of putting her life -- or at least a few of her bones -- in danger at Coachella on Sunday. On stage, as Teri "Gender Bender" Suaréz, the artist is reckless, abusing her guitar and her voice with delight. Off stage, Suaréz constantly laughs at herself, apologizes after nearly every sentence and admits to being paralyzed with shyness. 

"It hasn't been a hard time," Suaréz said of harmonizing the two extremes of her personality, and then adds, "but, existentially speaking, it has been." 

Suaréz and her band, which currently includes drummer Lia Braswell and At the Drive-In principal Omar Rodriguez Lopez on bass, is rooted in the anything-goes ethos of punk rock. Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, and based in L.A., Le Butcherettes are a collision of genres and cultures, as Suaréz quotes from the novels most of us never read, serenades in Spanish, occasionally pretends to be Russian and lashes out at what she sees as political and societal constraints.

When Le Butcherettes opened for Iggy & the Stooges last winter, it was easy to label Suaréz as something of a spiritual heir to Iggy Pop. She's aware of that, and she hasn't stopped thinking about it. "I feel like everyone is expecting me to be crazy," she said of her band's live performances, and she said Iggy told her the "same story."

Coachella 2012: Arctic Monkeys survive the heat

[WizardRSS: unable to retrieve full-text content]

British indie rock band Arctic Monkeys took the mainstage at Coachella on weekend No. 2 at 6:30 on a scorching Friday evening. Their rhythmic beats signaling the tribal togetherness that would bind this weekend's installment of rock 'n roll devotees....

Coachella 2012: Weekend 2 brings intense heat

And then there was sun. Early in last weekend's installment of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, the conversation was how rain and windy conditions could dampen the festival. Sure, there was a bit of drizzle, but not enough for a soak.

On Friday afternoon, those slowly trickling in to turnstiles during the opening hours of weekend 2 (a.k.a. Coachella redux) were probably wishing for just a little bit of rain. With the sun hovering over the fields beaming down a harsh 102 degrees, the Empire Polo Grounds were noticeably vacant.

COACHELLA 2012 | Full coverage

Staffers fanned themselves as they clutched bottles of water and food vendors slouched as they awaited business -' the heat getting the best of them. But just as the cloudy sky didn't cast a gloom on revelers last weekend, the intense heat (and, goodness, do we mean intense) didn't stop excited festival goers from flocking to early sets.

Levon Helm, singer and drummer for the Band, dies at 71

This post has been updated. See bottom for details.

Levon Helm, the widely respected and influential singer and drummer with the Band, whose Arkansas drawl colored the group's signature hits, including "Up on Cripple Creek" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," died Thursday in New York of throat cancer. He was 71.

One of three lead singers of the group that first gained fame backing Bob Dylan when he "went electric" in 1965, Helm and the Band largely created the template for a genre now labeled "Americana music" for its blend of rock, country, folk, blues and gospel strains.

'Levon is one of the most extraordinary, talented people I've ever known and very much like an older brother to me," the Band's guitarist Robbie Robertson said in a statement. "I am so grateful I got to see him one last time and will miss him and love him forever.'

PHOTOS: Levon Helm

Helm had been diagnosed in 1998 with throat cancer, which threatened to end his singing career; he declined a recommended laryngectomy, opting for radiation treatment instead. He died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Over a matter of several years, he regained the use of his voice, enjoying a latter-day career resurgence that yielded three Grammy Awards for his post-illness recordings 'Dirt Farmer,' 'Electric Dirt' and 'Ramble at the Ryman.'

'The Band, more than any other group, put rock and roll back in touch with its roots,' reads the group's entry at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which inducted the Band in 1994. 'With their ageless songs and solid grasp of musical idioms, the Band reached across the decades, making connections for a generation that was, as an era of violent cultural schisms wound down, in desperate search of them. They projected a sense of community in the turbulent late-'60s and early-'70s -- a time when the fabric of community in the United States was fraying.'

[Update at 3:32 p.m.: Garth Hudson, Helm's fellow member of the Band, posted the following message today on his Facebook page: "I am terribly sad. Thank you for 50 years of friendship and music. Memories that live on with us. No more sorrows, no more troubles, no more pain. He went peacefully to that beautiful marvelous wonderful place. He was Buddy Rich's favorite rock drummer...and my friend. Levon, I'm proud of you." --Garth]

RELATED:

PHOTOS: Notable deaths of 2012

Levon Helm in final stages of cancer

Album review: Levon Helm's 'Electric Dirt'

--Randy Lewis

Photo: Levon Helm at the drums in 1974 at the Forum in Inglewood on the Band's tour with Bob Dylan. Credit: Los Angeles Times.

Fewer naked musicians online as Is Anyone Up? shuts down

The name Hunter Moore could strike fear in the hearts of even the most tattoo-encrusted rock 'n' roller. His site, Is Anyone Up?, was an online museum of nakedness, posting --  in its year of existence -- hundreds of nude photos of band members from the middle and lower echelons of hard rock. As of this morning, it is no more. 

The site's domain has been taken over by a destination that calls itself BullyVille, and boasts that it is the "first anti-bullying social website and media platform." It should be noted, however, that one of BullyVille's affiliated sites, CheaterVille, has raised some eyebrows itself, allowing users to anonymously post details of purported relationship indiscretions. 

Nevertheless, Moore claims to have changed his tune in a letter explaining the closure. "The site was started for the scene and I tried to keep it that way as long as I could by supporting bands and giving them reasonable prices on ad space," Moore wrote. "The bills were getting too insane and I had to turn to the porn game for extra money but it's too shady."

In an interview with The Times last fall, Moore was defiant. Photos on his site were submitted anonymously by users, and the pictures were organized under general categories such as "girls," "guys" and "band." The presentation was crude, and Moore didn't sound too concerned about repercussions that his site might cause. "I understand it can hurt your reputation and your job and yadda yadda yadda," Moore said when asked about those who wanted a photo taken down.

Ozzie & Harriet made TV safe for Dick Clark, 'American Bandstand'

Dick Clark, who died Wednesday at age 82, is widely -- and legitimately -- lauded as the man who made rock 'n' roll safe for mainstream America with the clean-cut image of 'American Bandstand' upon its national premiere in 1957.

But four months before 'Bandstand' made the jump from its previous status as a popular local show out of Philadelphia, a watershed moment in the generational divide between rock 'n' roll-loving teens and their fretful parents took place on, of all places, 'The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.'

On April 10, 1957, then-16-year-old Ricky Nelson, the youngest member of the popular clan introduced  each week as 'America's favorite family,' showcased his love for the music that was sending adults around the country into conniptions in the wake of controversial appearances by Elvis Presley, whose pelvic gyrations were viewed as lewd by hordes of grown-ups.

Ed Sullivan's endorsement of Presley as 'a real decent, fine boy' in 1956 helped calm some fears, but many in positions of authority remained wary, or outright hostile, after watching Presley on his first national appearance in January 1956 on 'The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show,' then subsequently on 'The Steve Allen Show' and then 'The Ed Sullivan Show.'

After those shows, rock and TV remained a fitful marriage at best. When the music surfaced on 'The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,' however, the landscape changed dramatically.

The Nelsons were as wholesome as could be. Millions of Americans, first on radio, then on television, heard and watched Ozzie and Harriet's handsome young sons, David and Ricky, grow up before their eyes.

Ricky's passion for rock 'n' roll was no mere plot device. Outside the show, like scads of other teens, he was lapping up the hits of Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and rock's other originators.

Dick Clark: An indelible impact on American pop music

It was on 'American Bandstand,' the coolest weekly American sock hop to ever air, where Clark exposed audiences to a nifty little thing called rock 'n' roll. When Clark took over the daily afternoon show (its original host was arrested on drunk-driving charges)  in 1956, rock 'n' roll was just beginning to breathe on the pop charts and Clark's 'Bandstand' gave musicians a chance to showcase their latest tracks to a studio full of wholesome teenagers who bopped and grooved along to the sounds.

The format wasn't necessarily revolutionary, but it's one that worked -- and that's still duplicated to this day. 'American Bandstand' was a force because of Clark's ability to remain on the cusp of what was  next -- a talent that eventually made him a multi-hyphenate mogul. This was a show that fawned over teen idols such as Frankie Avalon, David Cassidy and the Jackson 5 but wasn't afraid to give performance time to the Doors and Creedence Clearwater Revival. He covered it all, from Little Richard to Run D.M.C. to Marvin Gaye to the Go-Go's.

PHOTOS: Dick Clark | 1929-2012

The question, really, is: Who wasn't on "Bandstand"? The show was essential for young pop acts. A scan of YouTube clips alone reveals early career performances from progenitors Jerry Lee Lewis and Stevie Wonder to the Beastie Boys, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince... (oh, we could go on and on).

Crooner Paul Anka remembers the impact Clark's 'American Bandstand' had early on in his career.

'I was there with him from the inception. Not many people realize the impact of being on that show with someone who is a friend, and leading a show that featured pop music from the infancy,' Anka said. 'There I was, a 16-year-old with a No. 1 record [1957's 'Diana'] because of 'Bandstand.' You can't even compare the impact of the show to something like 'American Idol.' The show was viewed from a  demographic that you felt the next day. He really set the bar high, down to Ryan Seacrest today. He was an innovator... an incredible pioneer. He was a brother. He's going to be missed.'

Clark never had the chance to book the Rolling Stones or the Beatles, but he never missed a beat and his influence continued long after the show went off the air in 1989. His presence prepped America to hop aboard Don Cornelius' 'Soul Train,' inspired the Brits to showcase 'Top of the Pops' and inspired MTV to launch a million on-air personalities who (other than Daly) never managed to stick around on TV for too long.

Younger generations might remember counting down till midnight every New Year's Eve as the ball dropped over Times Square in New York, wishing they could be there in person for his perennial "Dick Clark New Year's Rockin' Eve" specials, yet another platform for Clark to provide a night of multi-genre hitmakers that went on for hours. Or for the American Music Awards, which never quite gained the prestige of the Grammys but kept true to Clark's passion for tapping into what was hot on the charts with dozens of performances every year.

'He was a mentor. In the early days, when I moved out here from Chicago, I took space in his building,' Grammys Executive Producer Ken Ehrlich recalled. 'My first working relationship with him was at the Emmys in 1980. Dick and Ed McMahon hosted that year because of a writers strike and he was just so great about it. We had a very friendly rivalry. He was competitive always, but it was friendly. There was years that the AMAs beat the Grammys and years the Grammys beat the AMAs.

'He was just brilliant, he knew what was right in music. When I was a kid, I would watch 'American Bandstand' and pretend I was Dick Clark. I'd have a stereo and I'd talk into my hand. He was one of the first guys who recognized the power of television to broaden the reach of pop musuc. Whether it was the AMAs, 'Bandstand' or 'New Years' Rockin' Eve,' he had the ability to expand his reach. He knew what popular taste was and how to cater to it.'

Clark has been bestowed with too many honors to try to summarize, including the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame. He also won five Emmy Awards, including a lifetime achievement award, and a Peabody Award.

'The passing of Dick Clark removes one of the largest foundation stones of the entire pop music industry for the latter half of the 20th century. Starting with 'Bandstand,' his shows absolutely made most of the hits from the beginning,' Kal Rudman, publisher of music trade magazine Friday Morning Quarterback, wrote in a statement. 'Others in radio might aspire to the title, but they had to follow what Dick Clark played -- especially, and obviously, dance music. I mourn his death. He took me under his wing and became my guide in reaching the tastemakers of the record and radio industries.'

Though Clark's health had taken a dip following a stroke in 2004, he never gave up on his love of the microphone. Even though Seacrest had taken over Clark's New Year's Eve special, you could count on him making an appearance. Even if he had to trade in the loud bustle of the New York streets for the comfort of the studio for his commentary, he was determined to watch that ball drop until the end.

"I've always said if I can stay healthy, I want to work until I die," Clark told The Times in 2001, a few years before he had a stroke. "It's rare when you find something you want to do that you dreamed of doing since the time you were a child. I knew I wanted to get into radio when I was 13, and to be able to do it all your life, be paid to do it, enjoy it and never get up saying, 'Oh God, I have to go to work today' -- wow, what a bonus. On the other hand, I admire people who can just hang it up and play golf. I'd go out of my mind."

RELATED:

Obituary: Dick Clark introduced America to rock 'n' roll

Q&A: Dick Clark on 40 years of 'New Year's Rockin' Eve'

Dick Clark: Chaperone to generations of music-loving teens

-- Gerrick D. Kennedy

@gerrickkennedy

Top Photo: In this Feb. 3, 1959, file photo, Dick Clark selects a record in his station library in Philadelphia. Credit: Associated Press

Bottom Photo: In this April 20, 2002, file photo, Clark is at the mike during the taping of "American Bandstand's" 50th anniversary special in Pasadena, Calif. Credit: Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press

Dick Clark remembered: He made kids, their music 'stars of the show'

With news of Dick Clark's death Wednesday came reaction from the music and television world and points in between.

Starting in Philadelphia, where Clark got his start with 'American Bandstand' on local television, R&B songwriters and producers Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff paid tribute.  

"As fellow Philadelphians, we have admired Dick Clark and the 'American Bandstand' brand for many years, as it promoted Philadelphia music around the nation," the professional collaborators said in a statement. "Dick Clark was one of our inspirations for creating the 'Sound of Philadelphia' music brand. More importantly, we thank him for being one of the pioneers in promoting the Philly dance and music scene for the nation and world to enjoy. We send our sincere and deepest condolences to Dick Clark's family.'

PHOTOS: Stars react to the death of Dick Clark

Another songwriter and music producer, Mike Curb, weighed in Wednesday. 'I had the opportunity to work with Dick Clark for 50 years, beginning when I wrote the theme for 'American Bandstand.' He has clearly been the most important figure during my lifetime in the industry.'

John Oates of the pop duo Hall and Oates reminisced: 'Dick Clark was so much more than the host of a teenage TV dance show. Dick's understated yet omnipresent personality created a new media format.  With an understated on air presence, he made the kids and their music the stars of the show.  His genius was in his ability to use the power of television to help define how American teenagers saw themselves. From its humble beginnings on a local Philadelphia television network, to its eventual national network syndication, Dick Clark's 'American Bandstand' spread the gospel of American pop music and teenage style that transcended the regional boundaries of our country and united a youth culture that eventually spread its message throughout the entire world. With his passing, Dick Clark deserves to take his place at the top in the pantheon of popular culture icons.'

Clark was inducted into the Cleveland-based Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer in 1993. 'The way Dick Clark made it safe for rock 'n' roll, especially the way he brought it to teenagers and their parents through TV was crucial in spreading the word,' said Lauren Onkey, vice president of education and public programs at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 'It's also a great opportunity to remember how important dance is in the history of R&R. It's ironic how we've lost Dick Clark and ['Soul Train' creator and host] Don Cornelius so close together. They were both up to something similar: They created a space for bands and their fans to shine, and you saw that interaction.'

PHOTOS: Dick Clark | 1929-2012

Mark Shapiro, chief executive of Dick Clark Productions, said in a statement: 'Dick Clark was an American institution.  He was able to replicate the magic he brought to 'American Bandstand,' not once but several times, through the Golden Globes, 'New Year's Rockin' Eve' and thousands of hours of programming in almost every genre imaginable.  He was the first of his kind -- a pioneer, entrepreneur and creative visionary who bridged and cultivated the music scene with traditional show business. Dick Clark entertained and touched the lives of several generations.  He is truly irreplaceable and will be greatly missed by the employees of our company and millions of fans worldwide.'

RELATED:

Obituary: Dick Clark introduced America to rock 'n' roll

Dick Clark: An indelible impact on American pop music

Dick Clark: Chaperone to generations of music-loving teens

-- Claire Noland

Photo: Dick Clark sits with the audience while introducing acts on "American Bandstand" in 1981.  Credit: Los Angeles Times.

Study: New York, L.A. not the most influential music cities

This will come as no surprise to anyone who's been to a show at the Echo where half the audience is frantically texting about the great time they're having (at the expense of watching the set): Particular cities are influential in shaping music tastes. But how exactly does that influencer-chain work, and how does it differ among genres? Two Cornell researchers have a new paper that tries to diagram how one gets from a Patient Zero with a rad underground 7-inch in Montreal to an album of the year Grammy.

The paper, by Conrad Lee and Padraig Cunningham, uses an influence-modeling method gleaned from the study of bird-flock leadership to track how taste patterns spread over geography in Last.fm users. In short? Montreal, Atlanta and Oslo are the early adopters; New York and L.A. are relative bit players.

Report: Tupac hologram could go on tour

With Tupac Shakur's reincarnation at the closing night of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Sunday night continuing to dominate headlines on the blogosphere, the inevitable question of what's next for the 'performer' has become a steady buzz. Now it seems that the ghostly image of the rapper, murdered more than 15 years ago, could hit the road for a tour.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting representatives for Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, who anchored the closing night of first weekend of the annual three-day festival, are discussing the logistics for a possible tour involving the two as well as the virtual image of Tupac.

Coachella 2012: Tupac 'responds' to his reincarnation

Though it's been touted as a hologram, it is actually a projected 2D image created by the Digital Domain Media Group. The company that has offices in both L.A. and Venice combined today's technological advances with a visual trick called Pepper's Ghost that originates to the 1800s.

Levon Helm, singer and drummer for The Band, in final stages of cancer

This post has been updated. See details at the bottom.

The Band singer and drummer Levon Helm is in the final stages of cancer, according to a note posted on his website Tuesday by his wife, Sandy, and daughter, Amy.

'Please send your prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey,' the note said. 'Thank you fans and music lovers who have made his life so filled with joy and celebration . . . he has loved nothing more than to play, to fill the room up with music, lay down the back beat, and make the people dance! He did it every time he took the stage.'

At Saturday's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland, former Band guitarist and songwriter Robbie Robertson prefaced his induction speech for recording engineers Cosimo Matassa, Tom Dowd and Glyn Johns saying 'We all need to send out love and prayers to my Band mate Levon Helm,' but he did not elaborate.

Arkansas-born Helm was the only non-Canadian member of the Hawks, a group that first backed early rocker Ronnie Hawkins, and then gained fame in the mid-1960s accompanying Bob Dylan when the singer and songwriter "went electric" to the consternation of many hardcore folk music fans who'd previously supported him. 

The Band worked closely with Dylan after he went into seclusion following a near-fatal 1966 motorcycle accident, recording a batch of influential songs that were widely bootlegged and only surfaced in official form in 1975 as "The Basement Tapes." The Band released its first album on its own in 1968, "Music from Big Pink," to broad critical acclaim. It included one of the group's signature songs "The Weight." It followed with the even more highly lauded sophomore album "The Band," which included "Up On Cripple Creek," "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and "Rag Mama Rag."

As one of three lead singers for the band, along with Richard Manuel and Rick Danko, Helm was the dominant voice on such signature songs as 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,' 'Rag Mama Rag,' 'Ophelia,' 'Don't Do It' and 'Daniel and the Sacred Harp.' Manuel committed suicide in 1986 and Danko died of drug-related heart failure in 1999.

Members of the Band decided in 1976 to quit touring, and threw a gala final concert they called 'The Last Waltz,' which was captured on film by director Martin Scorsese. Here's a clip of Helm singing "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" at that concert:

 

After "The Last Waltz," Robertson began pursuing a series of solo projects, while Helm, Danko and multi-instrumentalist Garth Hudson engaged in various projects, including Helm's acting role as Loretta Lynn's father in the Academy Award-winning 1979 movie "Coal Miner's Daughter."

The group reconvened and recorded a new studio album, 'Jericho,' in 1993, without Robertson, and continued to tour periodically until Helm's health deteriorated because of the throat cancer diagnosed in 1998.

Following radiation treatment, his voice was little more than a whisper, but he hosted a series of loose performances at The Barn, his home and studio in upstate New York, where he slowly regained much of the quality that distinguished his work in the Band.

In his 1993 autobiography, Helm told of his falling out with Robertson over songwriting credits and publishing royalties related to the group's highly regarded catalog, which was singularly credited to Robertson. The Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. 

Helm mounted a comeback and subsequently released three albums, all of which garnered Grammy Awards. He received the 2007 Grammy for traditional folk album for 'Dirt Farmer,' the 2009 Americana album award for its follow-up, 'Electric Dirt,' and again for 2011's "Ramble at the Ryman" live album recorded at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium.

He was the subject of a 2010 documentary, "Ain't In It For My Health: A Film About Levon Helm."

[Update at 5:27 p.m.: An earlier version of this post said Helm had won two Grammy Awards for his post cancer-treatment albums. All three won Grammys. Also it said he had undergone a laryngectomy. He refused the laryngectomy and underwent radiation treatment instead.]

RELATED:

Album review: Levon Helm's 'Electric Dirt'

Levon Helm is still ready for the load

Robbie Robertson has a sense about 'How To Become Clairvoyant'

--Randy Lewis

Photo of Bob Dylan's 1974 "Before the Flood" tour stop at the Forum in Inglewood, where he was backed by the Band (l-r): Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Levon Helm. Credit: Kathleen Ballard / Los Angeles Times.

Five songs for Tax Day

Taxes are great. They pay for roads, trains, education, fire, police, medical care, Social Security and all sorts of things we can't imagine life without. However, they also make for great material for peeved songwriters, who usually have more to surrender to the IRS than most (unless you're the Rolling Stones, which has famously avant-garde accountants).

If you're still lollygagging on those returns -- they're due today, you know -- here are a few jams to get you through that last 1099.

The Beatles: "Taxman"

The gold standard of the tax-revolt genre. Catchy enough to make that check to the government feel like a thank-you letter.

Coachella 2012: Le Butcherettes come to festival, conquer it

All Teri 'Gender Bender' Suarez had to do was walk onstage. Five steps to her keyboard and one uncomfortable-looking chicken-squat later, and she already looked as if she were in need of an exorcism. Once she struck her instrument and began sputtering in time to the beat in a crouched position, the gentleman standing next to me leaned over and said, 'I'm scared already.'

This, as anyone who has seen Le Butcherettes before can attest, is when the fun begins.

The local group came to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in the midst of recording its new album, and were augmented here by mentor/producer and frequent collaborator Omar Rodriguez Lopez. The member of At the Drive-In was the one and only calm presence on stage, his forceful punk-rock bass guiding Suarez and drummer Lia Braswell away from completely losing it.

 COACHELLA 2012 | Full coverage

When Suarez plays her keyboard, she bends down between strikes as if she's in danger of falling off the stage and the instrument is her only lifeline. When she slaps at her guitar strings, the noise coming out of the speakers sounds as if it's coated in daggers. Vocally, she shouts out quotes from novels, serenades in Spanish, occasionally pretends to be Russian and lashes out at American political leaders. When not doing any of the above, she may sing, but she approaches the microphone with the all-encompassing bravado of a Joe Strummer.  

She punctuated 'Tonight' with less-than-graceful ballet kicks, and squared off with Braswell on 'Dress Off.' Lopez was wise to leave the stage, as the facial expressions of Suarez and Braswell would lead one to believe that the two were locked in a duel to the death. Yet when Suarez howls to rip off her clothes, it's a statement of reclamation, a dare to anyone ' male or female ' who would attempt to size her up.