Art piece by José Lozano

​Valentine's Day is around the corner, but opportunities to woo your love interest or delve into your interest in love are already arriving. The Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton and renowned Chicano artist José Lozano are hosting and presenting an evening of poetry and music inspired from the creative spirit of Latino culture.

Poets Gloria Enedina Alvarez, Sushu Foster, and Olga Garcia are the assembled wordsmiths for the homanje to the loved and the unloved.

Musical entertainment will feature Adriana Alvarez singing classic rancheras, the ballads of half-Hawaiian, half-Mexican vocalist Araianna Gouivea, who will also do spoken word pieces with a the accompaniment of a saxophone player, and last but not least, Latin Grammy-nominated La Santa Cecilia singer La Marisoul performing boleros in her passionate, inimitable voice.
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​On Saturday the Acrobatics Everyday crew throws on another inspired concert at UC Irvine, with Old Time Relijun member Arrington de Dionyso making another appearance after coming through 2010's edition of the Open Melody festival. 

De Dionyso's tour partner is the powerful Larkin Grimm, whose third album Parplar we reviewed a few years back.  Her latest, the self-released Soul Retrieval, is another lovely effort -- featuring among other guests legendary producer Tony Visconti -- and we caught up with her on the road by phone, with background interjections from her young son Otis:More >>

OFWGKTA's Frank Ocean

​Whether you know it or not, tonight's a big night for L.A. music lovers. Especially those who fell for the soulful musical stylings of Frank Ocean's Nostalgia Ultra mixtape and the abundance of leaked tracks that comprises his discography. Tonight, the resident crooner of hip-hop collective Odd Future will play at the El Rey Theatre as a finale to his five-date mini tour that has taken him from his hometown New Orleans, to London, Amsterdam and back to Los Angeles.

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​Turntable aficionados will be pleased to note that DJ PZB, a.k.a. Josh Brooks, will grace the stage at Detroit Bar Friday night as part of the club's weekly Static Fridays. For those of you grooving the night away under the desert sky at this year's Coachella, DJ PZB was featured on the Energy Factory stage.  He will be proceeded by Kitty Pawz, who, it must be mentioned,  moonlights as a DJ by night but spends his days as a cubicle jockey here at Weekly world headquarters. More >>

​Matt & Kim are well-known for their high-energy shows and positive vibes, but their recordings and performances never preach or cloy. They're all smiles on stage, and even the most cynical of listeners can't help but feel propelled by their warmth and good feelings. Equipped with synthesizer and drums, the duo have played many lofts and houses across the country, jumping from stage to stage and introducing young fans to what a live concert should be. Their music videos are also outrageous and funny, and remind us that the format is still worth producing. Among their best moments are the couple's naked run through Times Square ("Lessons Learned"), guerrilla performances in New York streets ("Block After Block") and bloody brawl in the midst of rehearsal ("Cameras").

The dance punk duo's exuberance is born from the sheer happiness of performing on stage, and they would only like for the audience to feel moved by the rousing force of their music. They're currently playing the Honda Civic Tour with Blink 182 and My Chemical Romance, for which they'll be stopping by the Honda Center in Anaheim this Saturday. We spoke to one-half of Matt & Kim as they're traveling across the country.

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Now in its eighth year, the annual SoundWalk will again take to the streets of Downtown Long Beach next Saturday for an evening of experimental sound art. Past years have featured synchronized symphonies, electronic sculptures and impromptu performances among a wide range of work that's hard to pin down as just noise or music. In a world that's inundated with white noise and headphones, the annual event organized by local artist group FLOOD is not a bad way to heighten your senses and experience your surroundings anew.More >>

Marisa Gerber

​A concert and food drive in honor of Fullerton police brutality victim Kelly Thomas is set for Sept. 17 at the Fullerton Museum Plaza on 125 E. Wilshire Ave.
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Flickr user gnar cami

Trash Pretty in Laguna Beach

​Summer ain't over 'till the bands at TrashPretty sing. Just because our mid-year season isn't over technically until late September, that doesn't mean there's no reason to throw a helluva party now. TrashPretty, Laguna Beach's vintage store-venue-superstar, is going to do just that on Saturday with their End of Summer Music Fest featuring Tomorrows Tulips, TRMRS, The Lovely Bad Things and more. Together, TrashPretty and the bands are going to bring some anarchy to the city by the sea. 
 
We spoke via email with some of the bands and Erin from TrashPretty about how they spent their summer vacations!
 

• What was the worst thing that happened this summer?

The Lovely Bad Things:
Tim: Tacoma, Wash. 
Brayden: Camping outside of Federal Way, Wash. in the rain for three days, and almost getting stabbed at the Tacoma Safeway.
Camron: And being silently stalked in the woods by an unknown creature.
Brayden: And meeting a possible serial killer in Chehalis, Wash.
Lauren: Camron had a diarrhea inducing burrito on the road.

Tommy from TRMRS: Aside from the death of our van (R.I.P. CHONGLER) The worst thing that happened was me having to take an emergency shit at a venue in Seattle called "the Funhouse"....not fun. We're looking at 1.5, maybe a 2 on a 1-10 scale. No locks, no paper, no door.

Erin from TrashPretty: That blond hotty next door at SUP hasn't talked to me yet.

Keepers of the Sun:
Amy: Dragons inhabited my brain.
Mario: I started using my credit card at bars cause I ran out of money.

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What happens when you mix the unique characteristics of a stone like onyx with pop music? You get Onicks, an up-and-coming artist originally from San Fernando Valley who is making his way into Orange County. The edgy, glamorous artist talks to OC Weekly about his road to the world of fame and music. Check him out at OC Pride this weekend ($10, 8800 Irvine Center Dr.).

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​Singer/songwriter Aimee Mann, whose soulful piano torch songs dripped with emotion in the 1999 movie Magnolia, will be touring the West Coast this August. Her musical journey will see her playing, of all places, zoos in Seattle and Portland, but the tour will start right here at Orange County's Coach House.

Mann is currently working on her eighth solo record, set for release in 2012, as well as  a musical-theater production based on her concept album The Forgotten Arm, which tells the story of a Vietnam vet/drug-addicted boxer.

Indeed, Mann has been quite the busy bee. But don't think just because she has a lofty creative vision, she has no sense of humor. She busied herself with a guest spot in an episode of last season's hilarious IFC comedy Portlandia. Enjoy a clip of Mann playing herself as a housekeeper for show stars Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein. While you're at it, enjoy a couple of other stellar guest appearances on the weekly comedy that so brilliantly flames all things hipster.
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