Award-winning media artist Jess Irish’s new documentary short film, This Mortal Plastik, unravels the enduring problem of plastics through an unusually artful exploration of this beguiling banality. Described as “a personal dive into the world’s most impersonal substance,” Irish paints a playful and provocative story of its history, science, adoption, and impact which now pervade every facet of modern life. A recent Chain NYC (“Best Director of a Documentary Short”) and Cannes World Film Festival winner (for “Best Environmental Film” – June 2021 Edition), it is scheduled to screen at two festivals this month. Read the rest of this entry »

With his new album, Year Of The Living Dead, out today, February 26, 2021 on Kompakt, Vienna-born and LA-based producer John Tejada finds a blissful extended moment of balance between the new and the familiar. Anyone who’s followed his career to date, which has included four previous albums for Kompakt, outings for storied labels like Plug Research, Playhouse and Cocoon, and numerous remixes and collaborations–most recently, his Wajatta duo with comedian and musician Reggie Watts–will immediately sense the warmth and eloquence that Tejada brings to his gilded, pliant techno and electro hybrids. But there’s more here, too; an explorer’s glimmer in the producer’s eye, as he gets to grips with new ways of working and being, while offering a reflective opening for the listener, something echoed in artwork by graphic designer and ‘contemplative artist’ David Grey.

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Drew Aron, one time classical guitarist turned folky singer-songwriter, will release his debut EP, Familiar Faces, on Elegant Regrets Music this November 13, 2020. In advance of the EP, Aron will put out two singles along with videos for each. “Running,” the first single, is due out on October 2, and will be followed by “Sugar Maple,” due out October 23. Familiar Faces will also have a video release. Read the rest of this entry »

Adult Karate (the musical moniker for versatile artist K.C. Maloney) is poised to release his second album, My Friends Are Internet And I Want To Break You Open, on July 31, 2020, on tastemaker label Plug Research. More than a year and a half in the making, this new album is a true expression of the artist’s musical evolution, a culmination of both his personal life journey and the integration of his various musical influences. This dynamic, boundary-crossing release defies genre pigeonholing and seamlessly glides between musical styles while Maloney’s candid, sometimes confessional lyrics and reverbed-out vocals hold the whole picture together. Read the rest of this entry »

After the sold-out and award-winning success of The Day Shall Declare It in 2015, Wilderness returns to the Los Angeles Arts District to remount its immersive, site-specific theatre experience, opening Tuesday, May 10, 2016 and running through Sunday, June 19, 2016. [UPDATE: The show has been extended thru July 31st by popular demand!] The internationally acclaimed physical theatre piece weaves together dynamic movement with a collage of American labor literature from Tennessee Williams and Studs Terkel, exploring the concept of work in America: what it does for us – and what it does to us. Developed and co-directed by Annie Saunders and Sophie Bortolussi (Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More), The Day Shall Declare It will run for a limited time, to audiences of only thirty people per show. The intimate performances will run six nights a week. The 2016 version sees the addition of “The Paradise,” an exclusive pop-up bar with live music curated by Vagrant Bartenders. Read the rest of this entry »

Award-winning pianist and composer Peter Manning Robinson will enthrall audiences with a stunning aural and visual art experience at his The Refractor Piano™ Concert on Thursday, April 28, 2016 at Santa Monica’s Bergamot Station. Performing live with his invention, The Refractor Piano™, Robinson is pioneering a new music form: “refracted music.” Without using prerecorded tracks, triggered samples, external sounds, or MIDI instruments, the Emmy and multiple BMI award-winning composer creates a vast spectrum of new sounds with just a refracted, acoustic piano. In a sense, Robinson plays inside the refractions generated by his newly created instrument. His innovative compositions, rooted in classical and jazz traditions combined with improvisation and acoustic refraction, produce a truly original and transcendent live music experience.  Read the rest of this entry »

Idly Bent presents the World Premiere of award winning Director-Playwright Reed Arnold’s new play, All Is Fair (or Oblivion Wrought), at the Dorie Theatre in Hollywood, CA, opening on Friday, April 8th for eleven performances through Sunday, April 24, 2016. This funny and thought-provoking play grapples with the thornier side of the emotions and ethics of love. All is Fair stars Arnold, Sarah Elizabeth Johnston, Michael Minto, and Ross Gallo. The play is written and directed by Arnold; set design is by Brian Cole; lighting design is by Rebecca Raines; and Zachary Zarvos is the stage manager.  Read the rest of this entry »

Based in Los Angeles, the internationally recognized Tremaine Dance Convention and Competition celebrates 35 years of inspiring young dancers with its continuing 2015-2016 National Tour across the United States, a star-studded 35th Annual Convention Gala Event and National Finals this summer in Orlando, a new book expected in June 2016, and the upcoming Behind the Curtain documentary scheduled for completion in 2017. Led by legendary and very busy choreographer/dance educator/performer Joe Tremaine, one of the most influential dance personalities in the country today, the innovative annual convention includes master dance classes with professional teachers/choreographers and competitive opportunities in approximately 24 U.S. cities for over 50,000 dancers each year from across the United States and around the world. Tremaine is well-known in the industry for performing, choreographing, and/or teaching dance to scores of celebrities including Paula Abdul, Christina Applegate, Cher, Helen Hunt, Gene Kelly, and Diana Ross, to name just a few.

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The latest missive from Acid Test has the label identifying with its hometown, Los Angeles, more than ever. LA-born Vienna resident and label mainstay Tin Man takes Vienna-born Angeleno resident John Tejada along for a four-track journey which dwells on the activity which defines life in the City of Angels: Driving. Opener “Swiftbox” is a perfect amalgam of Auvinen and Tejada’s respective styles— Tremulous 303 and complex minor key melodicism and deconstructed stabs. “Diamond Lanes” is another muscular acid cut with a subtle, swinging percussion. The Diamond Lanes in question can be used when you have a passenger in the car. Read the rest of this entry »

Angel City Chorale (ACC), the acclaimed Los Angeles choir led by Artistic Director Sue Fink, will kickoff the holidays with its festive annual winter concert and sing-along, which takes place the first weekend in December at the Wilshire United Methodist Church in Los Angeles. This year’s 22nd edition, Sing Joy, will entertain audiences over two very special nights on Saturday, December 5, and
 Sunday, December 6, 2015. The concert will feature seasonal favorites that echo the diversity of Los Angeles with selections from African, Jewish, Middle Eastern, South American, British, as well as American holiday traditions. Audiences will also get the chance to join in with the choir on familiar carols. Read the rest of this entry »