Thursday, April 30, 2015

THIS WEEKEND: Make Origami A Part Of Your Life

After Record Store Day, we kind of thought we'd have a break from crazy events, but somehow, we just couldn't stop booking things at the shop!! We've planned your weekend (and your month) and summarized it nicely in this blog post. Enjoy!

Friday, May 1
Phoebe Bridgers In-Store | 7pm

LA Weekly named this one of the best free concerts to go to this weekend! Celebrating the release of her 7", 'Killer,' out on Ryan Adams' label, Pax-Am, Bridgers will be playing her dark acoustic tunes at 7 pm in the loft! How could you miss someone described as a "musical unicorn"?!

Saturday, May 2
Mikal Cronin Scavenger Hunt
To celebrate the release of Mikal's new record "MCIII," Merge has sent us a cassette tape of the album and a prize pack. Just check our social media on Saturday morning for a clue to where in the shop the tape is hidden. Be the first to find it, and you'll get a prize pack with all kinds of goodies in it. We'll also be selling the album early as soon as the tape is found!!

Best Coast 'California Daze' Flea Market | 1pm
We'll be out at Oinkster on Saturday for Best Coast's flea market. Among a bunch of cool things, including on-site pet adoption, we'll have a tent where the band will be signing their new album from 1-2pm. A really great event for true BC fans!

Tallest Man On Earth Premiere Party | 7pm
Back at the shop, we're premiering the new Tallest Man On Earth album, Dark Bird Is Home (out on Dead Oceans on 5/12). First 20 people who pre-order the album get the limited edition white vinyl + an exclusive 7"! We'll also be giving away a pair of tickets to their 5/18 show at the Wiltern. You can pre-order your copy now here.

Sunday, May 3
Shark? In-Store | 2:30pm
Coming off their tour with our friends, LA Font, we've got Shark?, from Brooklyn, in the loft for an early show!

Paul Bergmann 7" Release Party | 4pm

Local celeb, Paul Bergmann, will be playing in the loft at 4 to celebrate the release of his debut 7" on Fairfax Recordings! These songs were co-produced by Nick Waterhouse and Kevin Augunas and features string arrangements from Jimmy Haskell. You can reserve your copy on limited edition white vinyl here. 

See you this weekend!! 

INTERVIEW: THE ACID















On May 8th, The Acid will be bringing their uniquely affecting neo-R&B to the El Rey. The Acid’s debut LP, Liminal was one of Origami Vinyl’s favorite LPs of 2014 and received wide acclaim for its minimal, stark, yet naturalistic take on electronic soul. OV's own, Thomas was lucky enough to sit down with Adam Freeland, one-third of the multi-national genre-defying group (also featuring Ry X and Steve Nalepa) and talk about his celebrated career as a DJ and producer, The Acid’s amazing live visuals, and his love affair with a certain taqueria here in Los Angeles. 

What's the origin of The Acid? How did you guys meet?

Steve and I have been friends for several years. Ry and I met at Dugan O'Neal's birthday party – Dugan's the guys who's directed a lot of our videos. I've had a nearly twenty year career as a solo artist and I'd just spent a year completely removed from music, a sort of reset. I bumped intro Ry and we started talking and we just sort of decided to try something out. It was a really nice, spontaneous thing. We went to the studio as an experiment and a few days later we had the first Acid EP.

What were some of the past projects you were involved in?

I got into making music through DJing. I've had a DJ career since I was young – I put out my first DJ mix in 1996. I used to work for this legendary Belgian techno label called R&S who more recently put out the first James Blake record. Whilst I was Djing I was working for them as an A&R scout and then I ended up setting up my own label called Marine Parade. I was in various collaborations and bands along the way, toured non-stop for 16 years and realized I needed a break. In that time I really found I didn't want to be in clubs at 5 in the morning. For me, The Acid represents the transition into a new era. Its nice after 16 thinking I had done it all to then start a new thing – I think its the best stuff I've done.

How has your work as a DJ influenced what you do with The Acid?

On every level. Knowing how to manipulate a crowd's energy – how to build tension and then release. The dynamics of our record are influenced by the dynamic range of a DJ set. The patterns of peaks and valleys you'd find in a 90-minute DJ set we try to instill in our songs. Sonics and sound craft is really my thing. Ry is a great songwriter – I'm not. I think more in terms of palette and sonic texture. Steve is more of a producer, a beat builder. The three of working together creates a nice push/pull.

Was there an agreed upon direction that you guys started the band with? Was it very different than the music you play now? How has you sound evolved over time?

It was such an experiment - we really had no idea what we were doing. I think normally you meet, you talk, you play each other music, you philosophize about what you are trying to create. A lot of the stuff I'd done personally had taken a lot of thinking about and self-questioning whereas this was very spontaneous – we just did it. We didn't play each other any music. I think that’s part of the beauty of it. We didn't have time for self-questioning or to plan and think about what we were making. We quickly established this role in the studio that if two of us like it, it stays, if two of us don’t, it goes. We wrote those first four tracks in about 4 days. It was a really fresh, exciting process.

What are some other influences your sound is rooted in? Musical or otherwise.

I just bought some land in Joshua Tree so that’s really influencing everything I'm doing right now. I'm spending quite a lot of time out in the desert. I'm really into using my hands and treating the land as a canvas with everything I create there. I have a solo rig being installed this weekend, so I'll have a studio setup out there. My heart is in Joshua Tree right now. It's sort of bizarre – the nearest building to my house is Pappy & Harriets and tomorrow night I'm seeing Caribou there. The next weekend its Jamie XX, John Talabot, and John Hopkins. To be able to live 5 miles up a dirt road and still have all that cultural stimulation is kind of too good to be true.

Musically, I'm influenced by basically everything Kompact puts out. They're just so consistent.

The desert seems like a fitting place to write and record for The Acid. Your music is rooted in open spaces and finding beauty in sparse melodies and arrangements.

Ry grew up in Byron Bay, Australia which is a beautiful surf town. He grew up on the land, kind of living off the grid. I’ve always like the desert inspire, psychedelic end of rock music. In my work I’ve always tried to bring in those influences.

What is it like performing this restrained, minimal music in front of big crowds? Do you get freaked out being so sonically exposed?

Yeah, we have to be quite careful about our set times. In a world where everything is so maximal and loud we’re pretty sparse and intimate. It’s weird though: we went to Australia to play this festival called Splendour In The Grass, which is kind of like the Coachella of Australia. We played this massive tent and rocked it and we just did what we do in a small room, but there was just something about the sound system and the enthusiasm of the audience. I mean we often play the songs a little quicker than on the record – a little bit – but its pretty true to the recordings.

I think the next record will be a bit more high energy than the last one, which is definitely inspired by our live performance. There are certain moments on our first album which just don’t translate well live, but having said that we’ve been really lucky with the gigs we’ve done – we’ve really been well received.

Visuals are a big part of your live sets. Can you tell me about the visual aspects of your performances?

Well we’re all quire aesthetic people. We wanted to bring in organic visuals to our sets. I feel like a lot of the visuals you see at shows are very digital, especially in electronic music and we all hate that. We wanted to use things we film like ink in water and a lot of natural elements. We’ve filmed this stuff called ferrofluid which is basically a liquid metal that you can run magnetic currents through to create different shapes. We played our tracks through it and it created all these amazing forms.

I have a pet peeve of when you see a show and the visuals are out of sync with the music and we all felt like it would be a good idea to do something which is synced up. We didn’t want to play to a click so we developed this visual system with a couple friends of ours which actually responds to what we’re playing. For instance on one track the kick drum will blur or distort the lens or a flower will open in response to Ry’s voice. It’s quite subtle how we’ve done it and I don’t know if you’d notice unless you were really paying attention, but we’re trying to create this all-encompassing experience. We’ve put a lot of time and pretty much all of our record deal money into making it work.

What was your first favorite band or musician?

I wanted to be Jimi Hendrix. I used to sit in my room as a kid and just make guitar feedback. I couldn’t really play, but I could make really cool feedback sounds. [laughs] I think I’ve always just been into the textures of sound, even as a kid. Before any of my friends I got a job as a paper boy so I could buy nice speakers and I used to just listen to all of those incredibly nicely produced 80’s pop records. I guess that’s still my thing. I don’t really think in terms of lyrics and songs, whereas Ry grew up listening to Elliott Smith and Steven was into all that Industrial stuff.

You definitely can hear all of those influences in The Acid. What was the first record you bought?

The first record I ever bought was the Muppet Show album. [laughs]


How has that one influenced you? Ever thought of doing a Muppet Show remix album?

If you really want to spill the juice on embarrassing things, I used to open my DJ sets with excerpts from the Muppets. It was those two guys, those critics. I can’t remember their names. [Editors note: Adam’s talking about Statler and Waldorf.]

So what’s next for The Acid?

We’re working on our next record. We’ve got a Phil Selway and a Young Magic remix coming out pretty soon. It actually looks like we’re gonna be doing a film score for a documentary. I don’t think I can really talk about what that it yet, but that’s pretty exciting. We’re all working on our own solo projects.

Alright now for the final hard hitting question: what’s you favorite taquería in LA and why?

There’s a place on Hillhurst called Best Fish Tacos in Ensenada, and when I lived in Los Feliz I would go and eat there every day. So much so that I became good friends with the owner, Joseph and he doesn’t let me buy tacos any more. I just go in there and he lets me help myself. For my last solo record, I actually called one of the tracks “Best Fish Tacos in Ensenada” because that album was pretty much fueled by those tacos. We ended up doing an album launch party there – I actually did a stage dive off of the taco stand. I wanted to enter myself into the Guinness Book of World Records as the first person to ever stage dive off a taco stand [laughs]. I might be – I don’t know.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

UPCOMING IN-STORE: PHOEBE BRIDGERS 5/1 @ 7 PM!!!



















This Friday Phoebe Bridgers is bringing her world-weary Americana to our loft for a special in-store performance in celebration of her new 7" on Ryan Adams' Pax-Am Records. In Adam's words, Bridgers is a "a 'musical unicorn' who “could make a jar of sand sound like ‘Blood On The Tracks.’”


Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Damn Good New Releases!

Ryan Adams - I Do Not Feel Like Being Good 7"


















Calexico - Edge Of The Sun


















Mew - + -


















HTRK - Marry Me Tonight


















Phoebe Bridgers - Killer 7"
Daniel Clarke - Diamonds 7"
George FitzGerald - Fading Love
Joywave - How Do You Feel Now?
The Very Best - Makes A King
Mike Viola - Stairway To Paradise 7"
Simon Joyner / L. Eugene Methe - Split 7"

Sunday, April 26, 2015

NEW ARRIVALS: INTERNATIONAL GARAGE, PUNK, AND SURF!!!!!


Wow! We just got an AMAZING collection of International garage, punk, and surf records into the shop! You're gonna want to come check these out!!

The Krontjong Devils - Romp Out! 7”
The Golding Institute - Sounds Of The San Francisco Adult Bookstores 7"
The Scuba Men - Scuba Dooba Baby 7"
Clayton Watson & His Silhouettes - No No No 7"
The Pebbles - We're Going Shopping 7"
The Astronauts - War Of The Satellites 7”
TV Killers - Hired Assassins 7”
Loli & The Chones - Total Fucking Genocide
V/A - The Best Of Repent Records Volume 1: The Winners Of The Vincent Price Beauty Contest
V/A - The Best Of Repent Records Volume 2: A World Full Of Friends
The Mummies - Party At Steve’s House
V/A - Guitar Mood 2: More Rare Instrumentals From The New And Olde Worlds
Toni OK - Golden Guitar Moon
V/A - Surfin Around The World
V/A - Asesinos De La Lucha Libre
The Original Surfaris - Surfari
Sir Dance A-Lot & His Dancing, Romancing Pranceteers / Manganzoides - S/T
Los Yetis - Historia Verdad De Los Yetis
The King Normals - Big Beat In Panicsville 7”

Saturday, April 25, 2015

IN-STORE: CLOUD COVER & SOFT FANGS TONIGHT @ 7 PM!!!!























Two bands. One night. One loft. Yeah, that's right, we've got a double whammy for you TONIGHT at 7 PM as Cloud Cover AND Soft Fangs play Origami in celebration of their new split 7"!

Though stylistically different, both Soft Fangs and Cloud Cover share a similar appreciation for the emotional power of gentle sounds. New York's Soft Fangs is the project of John Lutkevitch who plays a ramshackle and, yes, soft variation of indie-rock highlighted by beautiful folk melodies. Los Angeles' Jenny Tuite, who records as Cloud Cover is a practicioner of sparse, lonesome indie-pop held together by her reverb drenched voice and some spacey, dubbed-out instrumentation. I'm thinking we should invest in some candles for this one...

Friday, April 24, 2015

IN-STORE: CLOUD TONIGHT @ 7PM!!!

















Tonight at 7PM, Cloud will be gracing our loft and filling our store with their infectious, psych-pop sounds.

Cloud is the project of Angelino, Tyler Taormina. While his critically acclaimed debut LP, Comfort Songs showcased a damaged, emotionally raw side of Tyler's musical persona, Clouds new record, Zen Summer is an optimistic record about moving past hardships. This newfound PMA is instantly apparent in the warm, reverb drenched psychedelic swells and beautiful, Beach Boys-esque vocals.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

EVENT ALERT: CLOUD COVER & SOFT FANGS IN-STORE 4/25 @ 7 PM!!!!























Two bands. One night. One loft. Yeah, that's right, we've got a double whammy for you this Saturday at 7 PM as Cloud Cover AND Soft Fangs play Origami in celebration of their new split 7"!

Though stylistically different, both Soft Fangs and Cloud Cover share a similar appreciation for the emotional power of gentle sounds. New York's Soft Fangs is the project of John Lutkevitch who plays a ramshackle and, yes, soft variation of indie-rock highlighted by beautiful folk melodies. Los Angeles' Jenny Tuite, who records as Cloud Cover is a practicioner of sparse, lonesome indie-pop held together by her reverb drenched voice and some spacey, dubbed-out instrumentation. I'm thinking we should invest in some candles for this one...

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

EVENT ALERT: CLOUD IN-STORE 4/24 @ 7 PM!!

















This Friday at 7PM, Cloud will be gracing our loft and filling our store with their infectious, psych-pop sounds.

Cloud is the project of Angelino, Tyler Taormina. While his critically acclaimed debut LP, Comfort Songs showcased a damaged, emotionally raw side of Tyler's musical persona, Clouds new record, Zen Summer is an optimistic record about moving past hardships. This newfound PMA is instantly apparent in the warm, reverb drenched psychedelic swells and beautiful, Beach Boys-esque vocals. 

Sunday, April 19, 2015

RECORD STORE DAY 2015 LEFTOVERS!



















Wow! What an amazing Record Store Day! Thanks to everyone who came out and showed love for Origami. We've still got some sick RSD titles at the shop which are available for your perusal in-person at the shop or on our online store. Here's what we've got:

Antochas - S/T  7”
The Autumn Defense - S/T
Bob Moses - All In All
Brian Wilson - The Right Time 7"
Creative Adult - Ring Around The Room 7” 
Don Muro - As Long As I’ve Got You 7”
The Everymen - Spaceship Opening: A Very Short Tribute To Eric’s Trip 7”
Fool’s Gold - Flying Lessons | Orange Vinyl
Leila Gobi - Leila
Grizzly Bear - Horn Of Plenty | Splatter Vinyl 
Half Japanese - Volume Three: 1990-1995 | Box Set
Hundred Waters - Cavity | Flexi 7”
Kiasmos - Looped 12" EP
Koes Barat - S/T
Leave The Planet - Sarah, Where Are You? | 7”
No. 2 - No Memory (ft. contributions from Elliott Smith!)
Okkervil River - Sleep And Wake-Up Songs
William Onyeabor - Atomic Bomb (Remix) 12"
Pleiades - S/T
The Residents - Satisfacton 7”
Todd Rundgren / Emil Nikolaisen / Hans-Peter Lindstrom - Put Your Arms Around Me Vinyl 12"
Self - Monogamy 7” | Bronze Vinyl
Richard Swift - Ground Trouble Jaw 
Maria Taylor - 11:11 | Blue Vinyl
Typhoon - Prosthetic Love 7”
The Wedding Present - Meet Cute (Welsh Version) 7”
V/A - When I Reach That Heavenly Shore: Unearthly Black Gospel 1926-1936
V/A - An On-U Journey Through Time And Space 10"
V/A - Continuum | 7” & DVD (ft. Jamie XX, Four Tet, John Talabot, and Koreless)
V/A - Electroconvulsive Thereapy Volume 3
V/A - I’m Here OST | Picture Disc
V/A - R&B Hipshakers Vol. 2: Just A Little Bit Of The Jumpin’ Bean 

Friday, April 17, 2015

RSD: THE LIST!


Keep in mind, we're still receiving last minute shipments so we'll let you know if any RSD stuff comes in late! For now, here's our list for you to print out!

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

RECORD STORE DAY 2015 IS ALMOST HERE!!!


Record Store Day is right around the corner and I gotta say, there are some MIGHTY fine releases this year. While you pace your room in anticipation, check out this list of helpful hints and tips we've compiled to make your RSD a stress-free and, most importantly, fun day!
  • RSD is Saturday, 4/18. We'll be open from 8 AM - 9 PM. (Our friends at Taza open early so you can be highly caffeinated while you wait in line!)
  • We'll have DJ sets all day plus a couple great bands at night - see attached flyer for line up.
    First person in line will get 5 minutes solo shopping. 
  • First 50-100 people get a gift bag of goodies with purchase.
  • While there's a line, we'll be letting 10 people in at a time so you can have a comfortable shopping area. No Walmart style fights please.
  • Limit of one of each title per customer. We want to make sure those who want a record for their personal collection get a fair shot!
  • We'll post a list of all the releases we got in on Friday on our blog, along with a handy dandy printable check list. 
Other exciting things:
  • There WILL be an ice cream truck with free ice cream and Blur 7"s coming around at about 12:30. Just show your RSD receipt to get free ice cream! To get those coveted Blur 7"s all you have to do is say the secret words, "The Magic Whip!"
  • Desert Daze tickets will be $10 off!
  • The Echo has kindly provided us with free tickets for the Polaris show on 4/25 for anyone who purchases the Polaris RSD Pete & Pete release! 
  • Among other awesome things, there will be vouchers for free tickets to some Goldenvoice shows in select gift bags so keep an eye out!
  • Anyone who brings their RSD receipt to Masa will get 10% off their meal! 
We've worked our butts off to make this an awesome day for you, so we really hope you can come out and enjoy it! Here is an RSVP for the event! If you're not in LA, definitely go support your local record store on Saturday! 

Saturday, April 11, 2015

IN-STORE: Nedelle Torrisi TONIGHT @ 7 PM!!

Come hang out with this cheeky chick TONIGHT in the OV Loft!!

Nedelle Torrisi has a voice for the ages, she is all heart and no gimmicks. What a relief in a world full of fake and processed everything. Her new album, Advice from Paradise, released on Drag City, is timeless modern pop. It was produced by Haunted Graffiti whiz kid Kenny Gilmore.

This beauty is not only a talented musician that has worked with the likes of Ariel Pink, but she also spends her spare time giving actual advice to Los Angelinos and others, and if we can say so, its always quite witty. And as much as we love her Advice column here at OV, we love her music even more.

Give Nedelle a listen, she may just change your outlook on life. TONIGHT. 7 PM. OV LOFT.

Friday, April 3, 2015

EVENT ALERT: Talk In Tongues "Alone With A Friend" Advanced Listening Party TONIGHT @ 7 PM!!!


Come rub elbows... or tongues.

We're hosting a listening party with Talk In Tongues for their new album “Alone With A Friend” TONIGHT from 7pm - 9pm. We'll be slinging free Two Boots Pizza and refreshments.

RSVP to highfive@origamiorigami.com.

Get your first listen alone...together!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US! SALE & PARTY TIME!

We're 6 today!! Can you believe it? We are so grateful to all the distros, labels, and bands that we've worked with over the years.. Most importantly though, we couldn't have done it without YOU! We owe everything to our friends, family, and customers. So big props to you guys! 
As a thank you, we're throwing a big sale this weekend. From Friday until Sunday, everything in the shop will be 10% off. If you spend $50 or more, we'll give you a free OV t-shirt (designed by Ramsey Dau!). If you spend $100 or more, you'll get a t-shirt and a copy of every Origami Vinyl release (includes Hott MT, Summer Darling, and Ariel Pink among others)! If you're shopping online, spend $50 or more, and use the code HBDOV6 to get a discount - we'll also send you a free shirt if you specify your size! 
Join us tonight for a special premiere party for Talk In Tongues plus, our birthday party. We'll have free drinks and pizza for your enjoyment. You can also pre-order the TiT album and get a free 7"! We hope you can come celebrate with us!