By KCRW DJ Marion Hodges -
White Arrows have been busy.  Between crafting their catchy glam-infused indie rock jams, and securing a monthly residency at the Bootleg Theater, they’ve also found the time to do some rather nifty remixes for Local Natives and Alexander (the solo project from Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes).
In fact we have White Arrows’ remix of Alexander’s “Truth” hot of the presses, or er, laptop for you to stream right here.
Alexander – Truth (White Arrows Remix) by WHITEARROWS
Now back to their monthly …

I remember first reading about Crystal Stilts some time in the late part of 2007.  It was on the Seattle-based indie focused blog Three Imaginary Girls.  They were recommending this band from New York that had been recommended to them by Kip Berman, the front man of soon to be indiepop break out stars The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.  He described it as “What it might have sounded like if Joy Division were an indiepop band.”
Stream “Shake the Shackles”
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Download “Shake …

From KCRW DJ Marion Hodges:

Having suffered a little bit of Coachella envy from reading the tweets, and blog posts of my colleagues I was ready for some bands to show me a good time.  Last night at the Echoplex, The Go! Team did just that.  I’ve long been a fan of their unique mix of noisy indie rock, soul, hip hop, and inextinguishable energy. In fact, it’s the brilliant job they’ve done of perfecting that formula that has made their new ablum “Rolling Blackouts“ one of my favorites of …

From KCRW DJ Marion Hodges:
Day parties at SXSW are the best.  You almost never need a festival pass to get into one, so if you plan smart, you can see pretty much every band you would hope to see without spending a small fortune. Plus, they almost always have free beer.
One name from the day party circuit this year really jumped out to me — Those Dancing Days.
They’ll be playing Filter Magazine’s Culture Collide party on Saturday, that’s sponsored by KCRW, along with fellow Swedes Little Dragon .
A friend turned …

From KCRW DJ Marion Hodges:
Stream Kisses’ “People Can do the Most Amazing Things”
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
I’ve been bopping around to the nine songs that comprise Kisses’ debut Heart of the Nightlife pretty much non-stop since well before I first wrote about them here eight months ago.  I was anxious to know when I’d have new songs from the local band to add to the rotation, so I decided to take matters into my own hands, and set up an interview.
The initial idea was to meet Kisses‘ mastermind …

From KCRW DJ Marion Hodges:
Towards the end of the year, I came upon a beguiling record called the Ocean Tango from an artist of the same name.
It’s a collaboration between indiepop’s most elegant/eccentric lounge lizard Louis Phillipe, and Swedish pop band Testbild!
The result is something like an alternate universe Lawrence Welk show; lush, and sentimental, but at the same time challenging and thought provoking.
Every instrument is perfectly placed, and the lyrics serve to turn the songs into poetry set to music; elegant stories or abstract musings. A record as unique …

From DJ Marion Hodges:
Liechtenstein have been operating in the shadows of so many cool things for roughly the past three years. The Swedish girl foursome has released a couple of strong singles on frontwoman own Fraction Discs Label, a full length record last year on the indie pop stalwart Slumberland Records, and naturally gone through a line-up change or two.
The last time that I filled in for Nic Harcourt, I played the band’s newest single — far and away the most exciting thing they’ve given us to date. I’ve played …

The Russian Futurists have been described by other publications as “lo-fi” and “twee.” When I listen to their current release The Weight’s on the Wheels, however, I feel like I’m hearing the indie rock equivalent of the R&B jams I used to listen to on V-103 as a 12-year-old girl.
Tracks of polished whimsy that insist upon you shaking your booty to it immediately.
Stream “Golden Years”: [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
A quick glance at the Wikipedia page for the Canadian band reveals that it is essentially the project of …

From KCRW DJ Marion Hodges:
When I heard that members of Comet Gain, Crystal Stilts, and the Ladybug Transistor were collaborating on a record to be released this year, I became very excited.  Wild fantasies began to swirl through my mind of a dark, cinematic swirl of twisted surf pop, and razor sharp garage rock anthems.
They would call themselves Cinema Red and Blue, and even that name just sounded perfect for such a collaboration.  Much to my delight, everything that I imagined about this project to be has proven correct.
Check out …

From KCRW DJ Marion Hodges:
Following a rainstorm, a picnic on a lawn full of strangers, a screening of the film Trainspotting, and a seemingly endless gap between film and show, a sharp looking girl in a sharp looking Mod dress wandered onto the stage at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.  She was teasing the crowd with the promise that Belle & Sebastian would soon appear.  Sure enough, they appeared moments later playing the song “Sukie in the Graveyard.” from the 2006 album The Life Pursuit. There was an instant acknowledgment from …