Beloved L.A. indie popsters So Many Wizards have been on the up-and-up for years now, playing all over the city and releasing increasingly impressive EPs. Now, they're set to release a full-length record, Warm Nothing, through local label JAXART and play SXSW, but before that, they have a tour planned for the U.K. The only problem: getting there.

Watch this video to hear it from the band themselves — your donation helps pay for flights, visas, transportation and even the mixing and mastering of the album. So if you'd like to donate, head to IndieGoGo and place a donation. You'll get more than just the satisfaction of helping a young local band play for the NME set: a $5 donation gets you a rare So Many Wizards B-side; a $10 donation gets you a free digital copy of the new album the day it is finished; a $20 donation gets you their complete digital discography; a $30 donation gets you the discography and a T-shirt; and a $50 donation gets both a signed copy of the "Inner City/Best Friends 7" and a signed copy of the full-length CD, along with the other perks. More donation packages are avaialble upwards of $50 as well. So help them make it happen!

Help So Many Wizards Make It Happen from Nima Kazerouni on Vimeo.

Read my interview with the band a while back.

So Many Wizards U.K. tour dates:

The first time I heard Highland Park's Seasons was a song called “Light, Lost,” from their Winter EP, released in June 2010. I was immediately taken with its languid guitar-work and gorgeous melodies, not to mention the way the song takes a sharp left near the end and picks up into an indie-dance gem — sucker for tempo changes, right here.

 
But what really gets me about Seasons is the passion they clearly put into each song. Through their three released “season” EPs — Spring, Summer, Winter and Autumn, the last one just released this month —  Seasons aren’t afraid to change things up sonically or thematically. So what you get is a landscape painting of a band across its releases rather than a portrait. Though overall I might classify the music as epic spacefaring rock of the variety you don’t see too often these days — Slowdive, Smashing Pumpkins and, more recently, The Arcade Fire come to mind — there’s also a strong twee vibe running throughout, echoing Sarah Records and C86 bands, not to mention an electro streak that keeps things vibrant.


The band consists of longtime friends who like to go by their first names — John sings and plays guitar and keys; Nik does the same; Adam plays bass and guitar; Erik plays drums; Ray handles beats, keys and bass; and Kaitlin, violin and vocals. During the day, these people occupy such various jobs as teacher, florist, Trader Joe’s team member and Grammy Museum usher.
 
In the summer of 2006, they came up with the idea to do a set of EPs each with a mood to set the tone for feelings that arise during a particular season.
 
“We let the climate changes and the way people and ourselves reacted to each season inspire us to write each one, with the intention of releasing them when we were finished even if they season they were written in was over,” John explains.
 
The Autumn EP begins with “Monday Night” (available as a free download), a lighthearted danceable ode to getting up and out at the beginning of the work week — which, by the way, you should do tonight and/or next Monday to see the band play at the Echo as part of its January residency. The EP continues with the strings-and-bells laden yet hard-charging “These United States,” which nicely features singer Nik's growling, yearning vocals. The EP’s closer, “Lazy Bones,” is sort of meat-and-potatoes Seasons, a six-minute-plus psychedelic heart-on-sleeve power ballad. Meanwhile, “Number of the Beat” is their most outward flirtation with dance music thus far, although its striking violin playing still lands it firmly in orchestral pop territory.

Los Angeles traffic has driven Eddie Solis' and his hardcore punk duo It's Casual to the brink of madness...municipal outrage even. Dealing with the inequities of public transit in the most rawkin' way they know how, Its Casual has a new video for their song "The Red Line" and it's directed by photograher and Jackass Rick Kosick.

We highly recommend you check out their album The New Los Angeles. Their follow-up, The New Los Angeles II, made with producer Billy Anderson, will be out soon!

Once a month, Los Angeles's Natural History Museum stays openlate and features live music, exciting scientific discussion, and behind-the-scenes curatorial tours as part of the First Friday program. Amoeba is excited to sponsor this fabulous series of live music, discussion, concessions, tours, DJs and more.

Join us on February 3rd from 5-10pm for a live performance from The Soft Moon and Light Asylum, KCRW DJs Anthony Valadez and Mario Cotto, and a guest lectures from Dr. John Harris ("A Brief Sprint Through Human Evolution") and biological anthropologist Amy Parish  (“The New Science of Darwinian Feminism: Evolutionary Insights from Bonobo Social and Sexual Interactions”).

Find out more HERE!

The Soft Moon


Light Asylum

Dark Allies - Light Asylum from Grant Worth on Vimeo.

Once a month, Los Angeles's Natural History Museum stays open until 10 pm and features live music, exciting scientific discussion, and behind-the-scenes curatorial tours as part of the First Fridays program. Amoeba is excited to sponsor this fabulous series of live music, discussion, concessions, tours, DJs and more.

Join us on January 6th from 5-10 p.m. for a live performance from Mariachi El Bronx and El-Haru Kuroi, KCRW DJs Anthony Valadez and Travis Holcombe, and a lecture from Dr. Michael Shermer on "The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods To Politics and Conspiracies — How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them As Trusts!” Wow!

Read more about this First Friday of 2012 HERE!

      

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