Races: Lucas Ventura, Devo Higgins, Wade Ryff, Breanna Wood, Oliver Hild and Garth Herberg. Photo by Bryan Sheffield.

L.A.'s Races will release their Big Broom EP tomorrow on Frenchkiss Records. To commemorate that release, they'll play the Echo tonight at 10 p.m. with dark dancers The Chain Gang of 1974 (as part of their November residency there) and Polaris at Noon — the show starts at 8:30 and it's free.

Atmospheric rockers Races played their first show just two years ago in October of 2009, haphazardly assembled from friends playing in other bands, and already have drawn a following with their big sound, built from the ground up by six members playing smoothed out classic rock licks with a gentle percussive roll and Asiatic synthesizers, something like an indie-minded update of Fleetwood Mac's hevenly pop.

Frontman Wade Ryff, whose warm vocals wrap his songs like a wool sweater, said he'd been frustrated with trying to fit his songs into other bands and spoke with his friend, guitarist Garth Herberg, about forming a one-off band. The band now features Devon Lee on vocals/percussion, Breanna Wood on piano/vocals, Oliver Hild on bass/moog and Lucas Ventura on drums/percussion.

“I think we all sensed that there was something really special there and we just kept playing together because it felt good.,” Ryff said.

If you're a fan of the primitive, hand-drawn maps that I do for Eric's Blog, then set aside 25 June to come to my first art show at 1650 Gallery in Echo Park. They'll be displaying forty pieces and offering originals, reprints in various sizes, and taking new commissions (also in various sizes).

   

 

   

ANGELENO HEIGHTS
 
    Pendersleigh & Sons' Official Map of the Mideast Side

Angeleno Heights is a neighborhood in Los Angeles' Mideast Side. It's the second oldest suburb of the city after Bunker Hill (which is no longer suburban). After the Victorian homes of Bunker Hill were razed in the 1950s, Angeleno Heights became the largest concentration of Victorian homes, or "painted ladies" in the city.

Pendersleigh & Sons' Official Map of Angeleno Heights

Angeleno Heights was always predominantly residential and it remains a quiet neighborhood dotted with churches with Echo Park to the west, the Echo Park neighborhood of Sunset Heights to the north, the Echo Park neighborhood of Figueroa Terrace and the Chinatown neighborhood of Alpine Hill to the east, the downtown Civic Center to the southeast, and Historic Filipinotown and Temple-Beaudry to the south. Many people consider it a district within Echo Park although in reality it predates Echo Park's existence by a good few years and has a very different character from its larger, younger neighbor.

This edition of the Los Angeles neighborhood blog is about historic Edendale. To vote for more neighborhoods, click here. To vote for Los Angeles county communities, click here. To vote for Orange County neighborhoods, vote here.

Chicagoan William Selig had a background in vaudeville and, as a teen, was part of a traveling minstrel show. In 1894 he witnessed a demonstration of Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope at an exhibition in Dallas. Upon returning to the Middle West, he set up his own photography studio and began researching how to make movies in a way that wouldn't get him in trouble with the notoriously patent-protecting Edison who wasn't above hiring armed goons to stop anyone from infringing on his cartel.

   

             Francis Boggs                                        Selig-Polyscope Studio                                          William Selig

 In 1896 Selig set up the Selig Polyscope Company with director & actor Francis W. Boggs. They began filming actualities, industrial films and travelogues.  Francis Boggs was from Santa Rosa or Newman, California (there were no census records). 

It drives me nuts when I ask someone where they live and they tell me, “The Eastside,” only to find out that they live in Echo Park or Silver Lake. Yes, I know. Echo Park is east of Hollywood, and despite what publications like the L.A. Weekly might tell you, Echo Park/Silver Lake Area (for that matter, downtown) is not “The Eastside.” That title is reserved for the communities east of the L.A. River, on the other side of the bridges. Areas such Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles, City Terrace and Lincoln Heights have their own culture, history and mentality that is miles away from the rest of the Los Angeles. Many people that live west of East L.A. have never ventured past those bridges that connect downtown to the East L.A., even though it’s only a few short miles away. In fact, to me, calling the Echo Park/Silver Lake “The Eastside” is like calling Culver City the “Eastside” simply because it is east of Santa Monica.

Here’s a little helpful guide so that you might be able to tell the difference:

In Echo Park/Silver Lake, it's called Sunset Blvd.
In East Los, it's called Cesar Chavez Ave.
Echo Park/Silver Lake is 40.53% White
East Los is 96.80% Latino
Echo Park/Silver Lake gave us Tom Waits, Beck & The Silversun Pickups
East Los gave us The Midniters, Los Lobos and Ozomatli
Echo Park/Silver Lake was once the home of the Walt Disney Studios
East Los is considered “the mural capital of the world” behind Mexico City
Echo Park/Silver Lake has The Sunset Junction Festival, Cuban Festival & Lotus Festival
East Los has Dia De Los Muertos @ Self Help Graphics and Festival De La Gente
Echo Park/Silver Lake: Elliott Smith, voice of a generation, died in Echo Park
East Los: Rudy Salazar, voice of a generation, died in East L.A.
Echo Park/Silver Lake: Mi Vida Loca, Quinceanera
East Los: Blood In, Blood Out, American Me (don’t look at me Lil puppet….)
Echo Park/Silver Lake: Almost completely gentrified
East Los: On it’s way if they don’t fight it