Airlines

* tacomadnessfeatured Taco Madness: Vote for L.A.’s best taqueria
* Hi Ho Silver Oh L.A. Unheard: Hi Ho Silver Oh
* The Dirty Laundry crew in action I Want My D.I.Y.: L.A. bloggers bring back the music video
* brx-0330-music-picks-7 Tonight’s music pick: White Sea, Seven Saturdays @ the Satellite
* Villains Tavern The Agenda: Trivia + Burgers @ Villains Tavern
* dface primary D*Face opening at Corey Helford Gallery

The Shot: Radiohead’s Universal Sigh arrives at Sunset Junction
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Amusement Parks on Fire band member Gavin Pool poses with the crowd of Radiohead fans picking up the Universal Sigh at Sunset Junction. Credit: Raul Roa/Staff Photographer

Radiohead released its free newspaper, the Universal Sigh, at a handful of Los Angeles locations on Tuesday — and the fans were out in force. Click through the gallery for our photos of the music-nerd Sunset Junction commotion and find more Brand X photos on our The Shot page.
Hear ‘Mad Men’ creator Matthew Weiner’s music picks
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'Mad Men' creator Matthew WeinerThough “Mad Men” fans are feverishly waiting for 2012 — or better, news that executive producer and series creator Matthew Weiner will be happily on board for the show’s delayed fifth season after lengthy negotiations with its network, AMC — at least we can hear the man’s soundtrack. He stopped by KCRW on Wednesday for the radio station’s Guest DJ Project and spun five tracks: Bing Crosby’s “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”, Jim Croce’s “New York’s Not My Home,” Big Star’s “The Ballad of El Goodo,” “Joni Mitchell’s “Rainy Night House” and the Decemberists’ “Los Angeles, I’m Yours.”

We knew Weiner was a Decemberists fan — the pirate-lovin’ indie-folk act’s “The Infanta” played during a much-discussed 2008 montage — but fingers crossed we see Sally Draper softly weeping to Big Star’s “Thirteen” during a future episode. Stream and download the session, which also includes an interview, on KCRW’s site. What do you think of his picks, Brand Xers?

–David Greenwald

Photo: “Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner on the red carpet during the AMC “Mad Men” gala event at Hotel Royal Monceau Raffle on February 8, 2011 in Paris, France. Credit: Francois Durand/Getty Images
Tonight’s music pick: Ice Cube @ House of Blues
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Family friendly road-trip movies, TBS sitcoms, and the so-so album, “I Am the West” he released last year: Ice Cube’s done a lot to make us forget he was once a founding father of gangsta rap. Fortunately for him, street cred was never Cube’s strength to begin with — it was rhymes. And classic joints like “Check Yo Self” and “It Was a Good Day” haven’t lost any of their sharp-tongued vitriol, rapid flow and biting wit in the last 20 years. There was a reason why Ice Cube wrote lyrics for the rest of N.W.A., and he’s still spitting those rhymes today.

House of Blue Sunset, 8430 Sunset Blvd.; 8 p.m.; $50

– Daniel Siegal

Also Wednesday:

Kozmonaut, Kill the Academy @ Troubadour, 8 p.m.
Goldenspell, Hello Echo, the Airlines @ Silverlake Lounge, 8 p.m.
Marcus Very Ordinary, Careful @ Bootleg Theater, 8:30 p.m.
Travie McCoy, Donnis @ El Rey Theatre, 6 p.m.
Kem @ Club Nokia, 8:30 p.m.
Natural Vibrations, Zen Robbi @ Roxy Theatre, 8 p.m.
The Parlotones, Imagine Dragons @ Viper Room, 8 p.m.

Photo: Ice Cube doing his thing. Credit: Brian van der Brug/LA Times
Handmade guitars: picking the best cigar box
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Cigar box guitars

The pages of newspapers don’t runneth over with stories of happy accidents involving chainsaws.

But that’s just what put Philadelphia musicians Lucy Tight and Wayne Waxing, who tour as Hymn for Her, in possession of a musical instrument that changed the direction of their career. Continue Reading ?
Cat lovers react to Best Coast’s ‘Crazy For You’ video
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Best Coast

Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino is a notable cat lover, but how does the cat-centric “Crazy For You” video stack up for, ahem, serious feline fans? Three words: “More paw action.”

–David Greenwald
L.A. Unheard: Airlines
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Airlines

The band: Airlines, an upbeat Silver Lake/Echo Park quintet.

The sound: Airlines play the kind of danceably cheesy electro-based music made Internet-famous by acts from Cut Copy to Delorean. “Burial Grounds” belies its funereal title with major-key sunshine, while EP title track “Visions” reveals the band’s ’80s influences: “Just keep it coming, because I’m feeling all right,” the group sings over a Phil Collins “In the Air Tonight” drum fill. Hey, we said it was cheesy.

The random: The group formed at SXSW 2010 after a random party performance. “People liked it. We liked it. The universe liked it,” singer Hayden Tobin explained over e-mail. The then-four-piece added drummer Ron Marinelli to the mix, and the rest is synth-history.

The details: Airlines take off tonight with a show at the Silverlake Lounge and another performance booked at the Mime on April 8. The group’s “Visions” EP was released on February 1, with music videos and new tunes currently in progress. - Brand X

Today's Blog Music - The Hype Machine Airlines have a similar tropical vibe to their music, not unlike Tanlines. Â I suppose that hailing from the Golden State helps with that aura. Â When you’re surrounded by the sun for the vast majorit… - Musikbloggar

Hi, we are Airlines and besides trying to make coherent/ relevent music we spend our free time overlaying shapes onto alternative photos. Oh wait I spend my free time overlaying shapes on alt. photos, damn. Ok I have another intro, mmhhmmm (clearing of throat): Hi, we’re Airlines and we believe producing an album is totally based on one’s prospective because what does it even mean to make an album these days?

Besides the rest of their tracks which range from eh to so so, “Burial Grounds” keeps me interested in their Myspace claim, “we’re working on a new album”. “Burial Grounds” cleverly follows the lines of other avant-garde indie electro bands yet it’s not distinct enough to get them caught in the act. All though there are creepy similarities to early Cut Copy or Yeasayer. No? - Red Fthr

These guys have an EP out on bandcamp their bandcamp (http://airlines.bandcamp.com/album/visions) that you should check out if you like the song. Truly, the whole thing is awesome.
The band seems to hope that some awesome mixers will come and play with this song and have left materials necessary on the interwebz. Exciting. And that's all I have to say about that. The song is great... particularly well balanced. - The Universal Yellow Keys

Meet the Los Angeles based chillwave/electro-pop outfit Airlines (fashioned as ?IRLIN?S). Their debut EP—Visions—came out freely on Bandcamp at the beginning of February, and is quite possibly some of the finest additions to the chillwave scene I’ve seen in quite a while. What starts as an homage to the wide soundscapes of 80s synth-pop, EP opener “Burial Grounds” quickly becomes a fantastic bit of electro chillwave. The synth-pads come on pretty strong at first, but they develop into a controlled and downright delightful arrangement throughout the entirety of the track.

While the 80s beats and synths never quite leave “Burial Ground,” they help to cement the track in an ethereal wave of relaxation and nostalgia. It’s some fine chillwave, and a great track for a sunny weekend. - The Music Ninja

Another great chillwave band to come out of Los Angeles, Airlines, mixes dance pop beats with Depeche mode like vocals and of coarse lots of synth to make something that sounds familiar and new at the same time. They resently dropped their new EP, Visions, in the beginning of February, which you can pick up for free over on their Band Camp page. The weird thing is that there’s actually an airline called Vision Airlines, so I don’t know if they named their EP on purpose because they have some kind of cross promotion deal or if it’s all just coincidence! Vision airlines, by the way, has really cheap flights, everything I checked out was like 60 bucks!! but im sorry, thats not the point, check out “Burial Grounds“and let us know what you think. - This Band Is Sick

Airlines is an LA indie band that recently contacted us. They have an EP out called 'Visions' on bandcamp that you can name your own price for including $0. I downloaded it and I'm loving all four tracks! Real cool stuff. It never ceases to amaze me how much amazing music is out there compared to how much crap is on mainstream radio. Check out the beautiful "Burial Grounds" below and if you like what you hear I recommend you pick that EP up.

P.S. As a side note they have the stems to "Burial Grounds" up on their bandcamp page as well for any aspiring producers out there who would like to take a stab at remixing this baby. Always fun to see what people come up with. - Off The Radar

the island disco sound of los angeles-based airlines' "burial grounds" does wonders to break one out of the winter doldrums. check 'em out on bandcamp, where you can pick up their debut EP visions for as little as an email address. and forget all you troubles... at least for a little while. - The Pop Sucker

http://freshandrelevant.blogspot.com/2011/02/airlines-burial-grounds.html - Fresh & Relevant

Airlines are a chillwave/electro pop outfit from the city of Los Angeles. Their music is straight from the 1980's. They kind of have a vibe similar to Cut Copy. - Skeet Beatz

http://hypem.com/#!/artist/Airlines - Hype Machine

Ladies and Gentlemen: Please make sure your seats are in the chill position, place all loose expectations in the overhead compartment, and lastly, empty your small bottle of gin. Secure your tray and fasten your seat belts, because Airlines’ Visions is scheduled for takeoff! The weather forecast is dark and gothy, with flashes of pure synth-pop. Drawing from the experience of other aviators, such as OMD, Joy Division, and New Order, Airlines is charting a flight path through the emotional storms that all of us must face in life. Airlines knows that music helps you get through the rough patches. - The Needle Drop

Airlines have a similar tropical vibe to their music, not unlike Tanlines. I suppose that hailing from the Golden State helps with that aura. When you’re surrounded by the sun for the vast majority of the year, it’s bound to show in your creative output. That said, if you were in search of another example of synth heavy, Eighties reminiscent band, look no further.

Airlines’ debut EP, entitled Visions, can be had in exchange for your email address at their Bandcamp page. Its four songs don’t stray too far from the formula of similar bands of the past couple of years, but that shouldn’t be a detraction. The band also has the stems to their songs available at their Bandcamp as well, for all you budding remixers out there.

There’s a reason there are so many bands popping up with this similar ambiance. It feels good, it sounds good, and with the weather getting ready to turn (I can feel it), it’s a welcomed addition to the springtime arsenal of music. - Tympanogram

Unless a band diverges onto treacherous experimental ground, there’s not a lot of soil left to be tilled in electronic indie-pop. With juggernauts like MGMT and Passion Pit having harvested their crops and myriad groups like Foster the People and the Limousines hoping their hybrids bear fruit, it’s hard to imagine there’d be room left for the likes of Airlines. That said, however, dancefloors will always need their fodder, and solid beats, hooks and melodies will get your music there. “Visions,” the new EP from the L.A. quintet, has ample supply of both. The brainchild of songwriting cousins Blake Johns (vocals/guitar) and Hayden Tobin (guitar/electronics), Airlines — which includes bassist TJ Pencille and percussionists Walker Michaels and Ron Marinelli — has only been tooting its synths for about a year. “Visions” looks like a good start. - Buzzbands LA

Gotta love Bandcamp. We know little about the Los Angeles outfit known as Airlines (or as my iTunes calls them, ?IRLIN?S) but what we do know is their song “Burial Ground” is screaming with electro-pop enthusiasm, blending chillwave, synths, dream pop and disco all in one. It’s one of those throw your hands in the air jams, kind of like a Miike Snow cut but more aggressive. Check out the band’s Bandcamp page where they are inviting YOU to remix the track and send it back for them to post it; so far there’s drum n bass mixes, steel drum mixes and tons more. They are also giving away their four track VISIONS EP, which includes “Burial Grounds,” in exchange for your email. Sweet deal. But first, download / listen to our favorite cut “Burial Ground” below. - Pretty Much Amazing

When putting together WLFY's first Los Angeles show (GOING DOWN TONIGHT) I began down the rabbit hole of clicking LA based bands on myspace, clicking their friend's bands, and so on. I was becoming discouraged when suddenly Airlines appeared. Just because we're conditioned to do so, immediate comparisons to Yeasayer, Cut Copy, and MGMT will be attached, but it's important that they add their own element to make the sound unique to Airlines. Soaring ambient synths drive dance beats that swirl around with understated vocals. The music I love always creates an image and Airlines is a grapefruit orange sun set in a tropical location....with lasers. Airlines is a party, but a sophisticated one. Airlines is at the top of my list for band to watch in 2011, get to know them now, it's always fun to watch a band take off. See what I did there. - We Listen For You

This summer is undoubtedly going to be awash with chillwave-esque bands trying to replicate the success of the quasi-genre in the two previous summers. So it’s nice that a band have jumped the gun and released a perfect remedy to the recent cold snap. It’s no surprise that said band are from Los Angeles, a five-piece named Airlines. With a degree of mystery about them and only a solitary EP to go on, I’ll go out on a limb and say they may already be ahead of that aforementioned pack.

Airlines create music they describe – with tongue firmly in cheek – as ‘Island Disco’. Considering the tribal aspects of most of their songs, it is a pretty concise and accurate way of summing up what they do. ‘Burial Grounds’ exemplifies this as you are first met with tribal drums and call and repeat backing vocals. The only way the song can be described is if you imagine Baltimora’s 80's hit ‘Tarzan Boy’ produced by Miike Snow. In other words, this is pure pop perfection. - The Line Of Best Fit