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Learn about album production at Origami Vinyl

Ever wondered about how to make picture discs, custom vinyl or specialty record jackets? Plan on releasing a vinyl record soon? Origami Vinyl is offering up a FREE panel discussion on the basics of album production on Sunday, August 15 from 7:00-9:00 pm.

“Getting Your Record Made: A Step-by-Step Look at Album Production” is a panel discussion with Q and A led by Origami Vinyl owner Neil Schield. On the panel is: Christian Dwiggins (mixing and mastering engineer from Engine Rooms Studios), Pet Lyman (owner and chief mastering engineer from Infrasonic Sound Recording), Kevin Smith (owner of Bill Smith Custom Records), Jennifer Freund (owner and CEO Dorado Music Packaging), and Benjamin Heywood of Summer Darling.

Along with beer, the event will also include some special offers and discounts from panel speakers on their record production services.

You do have to RSVP no later than TODAY, August 12, by emailing RSVPOrigami@gmail.com

Origami Vinyl is located at 1816 W. Sunset Blvd.

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David Yow show Opening Reception at DIY Gallery

The DIY Gallery (which took over Bandit on Sunset Boulevard), is hosting a new show with an opening reception coming up on Saturday, August 14. The gallery will be presenting David Yow’s one-man exhibition of paintings, collage and digital drawings starting Saturday through September 11.

There’s been a lot of excitement revolving around this show. David Yow is not only a cool artist, he is the former frontman for Jesus Lizard, Scratch Acid, and Qui. The show at DIY Gallery in Echo Park is his first solo art exhibit and will be presenting (we’ve heard he will be there for the opening) his new collection of work along with a limited edition of posters for sale benefiting Eagles of Death Metal bassist Brian O’Connor, who is undergoing treatment for cancer.

According to the press release, the artwork in the show “are rooted in Yow’s personal and psychological history, and feature a broad spectrum of mediums. From acrylic, pencil, charcoal, crayon, hair, bugs, collage, and tar on wood, to line drawings digitally combined with photographic textures, Yow reveals an uncommon artistic perspective.”

In addition to the exhibit, the DIY back patio will host drinks and projections, along with musical performances to be determined.

Opening Reception: Saturday August 14, 2010 from 7:00 pm-11:00 pm.

The exhibition continues through September 11, with a special event TBA for closing night.

DIY Gallery is open Tuesday-Saturday 12:00pm-6:00pm and is located at 1549 West Sunset Boulevard

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Free For All Festival at Echoplex This Sunday

Free For All Festival

Sunday, August 15
4:00 pm – 12:00 midnight
Echoplex
All Ages
Free! (Donations accepted)

RSVP for priority entrance if there are lines.

Live performances by:
Akron/Family || Listen
Langhorne Slim || Listen
Active Child || Listen
Old Man Markley || Listen
Roadside Graves || Listen
Sean Hayes || Listen
Frank Fairfield
Bad Weather California || Listen
Dustbowl Revival || Listen
Hi Ho Silver Oh || Listen
The Smart Brothers
Don Juan Y Los Blancos
Dreamcatcher
Mouse Heaven

Food by Chef Brian’s Comfort Truck and Lake Street Creamery.

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New to the ‘Hood: Echo Park Life

I recently met a couple of the Echo Park residents behind the new blog/community organizers called Echo Park Life at the Echo Park Improvement Association pot luck last week. What started as a few neighbors concerned with the direction of development on the western side of Echo Park, it turned into a website revolved around getting residents organized and educated.

Residents in what is called the “Washington Heights Tract” around Sunset, Alvarado, Elsinore, Mohawk, and Waterloo are currently concentrating their concerns on two major developments taking place in their part of Echo Park: the El Camino restaurant taking over the old Ramona Theater, and the Sunset Flats residential complex at Sunset and Reservoir.

Sunset Flats is a 64-unit residential complex that, in its original proposed state, will be a five-story complex with no parking provided to its residents. Echo Park Life organizers are concerned with the parking problem, the potential eyesore, and the demolition of six turn-of-the-century homes, among other potential problems.

The El Camino restaurant in the old Ramona Theater (which we’ve written about before) will also be off-street parking for its 200-person seated establishment (with the exception of a rumored limited car valet option). Echo Park Life worry about the parking, the bar open until 2:00 am, and the wood-fired pizza oven burning below their bedroom windows.

Tomorrow night (Wednesday, August 7), the GEPENC Planning and Land Use Committee will meet to discuss, among other things, the Sunset Flats project (if any new information is available, it might be the developer submitting some new design plans that will reflect past concerns). Echo Park Life is calling for residents to join them at the meeting to “get involved and come to a meeting to learn about the community issues going on in Echo Park.”

Go to www.echoparklife.org if you are interested in joining the discussion, and follow them on Twitter.

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Lost and Found: Animals of Echo Park

We get quite a few lost animal notices from Echo Park residents, and we hope you find your pets! You can also post your lost pet info on our local community forums such as the Echo Elysian Neighborhood Council forum and the Echo Park Animal Alliance group forum.

Lost:
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Princess of Wales Parakeet: Lost on Lilac Place near Sunset, Dodger Stadium and Elysian Park on Saturday evening July 31, 2010.

Click here for the Craigslist post and contact info

Found:
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Found near Clinton and Bonnie Brae wandering in the street at 11:00 pm Monday night, August 9

Click here for the Craigslist post and contact info

Need Homes:

Read more

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Workshop on the Business of Music

Hey Echo Park musicians! Need a little help with the business side of music? Bedrock Studios is hosting a workshop that can help you make sense of it all. The workshop is being presented by Josh Sanderson of Black Sand Music (a music placement agency).

Film and TV Licensing Workshop
What you need to know to get your music placed in Film & TV

Sunday, August 22nd
1:00-4:00pm

What will be covered:
DIY Pitching, Music Libraries, Placement Agencies & Publishers
The pros and cons of each, Exclusive vs. Non-Exclusive, and negotiating a great deal
Writer, Publisher and Master Splits & Copyright Ownership
You’ve written, produced and recorded a song. Who deserves to own what?
Master & Sync and Deal Points
The “Two Sides” of music licensing, and making sense of all the paperwork
License Fees vs. Performance Royalties
How are they different and how much should I expect to get paid?

The cost:
Save on course fees by registering by Sunday, August 15
Single: $99 (Save $50.00)
2-for-1: $149 (Save $75.00 each)
Three: $195 (Save $84.00 each)
Four+: $59 each (Save $90.00 each)
After August 15th all tickets are $149 each. Purchase with pay pal prior to event.

Click here to sign up.

Bedrock Studios is located at 1623 Allesandro St.
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Echo Park Cleanup at the Triangle

On Saturday, August 7, Echo Park TAP ( Trash Abatement Project) and the Los Angeles Conservation Corp/Clean and Green cleaned up the “triangle” island on the corner of Montana and Glendale/Lake Shore. The 28 volunteers cleared up 65 trash bags, approximately 1,760 pounds of trash, keeping trash from entering storm drains that discharge into Echo Park Lake. The difference is incredible!

Some time in the future, this small area might just be developed. Word is developers are going to be building a restaurant structure, but no proposals for design have been submitted. We are hoping for a building that fits in well with the traditional Echo Park landscape!

Twitpic photo via josesigala

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REWIND – The Recycled Electronics Store

REWIND: The Recycled Electronics Store is literally a Mom and Pop operation. When I walked in, Jen (The Mom) was playing with her two-year-old daughter while her baby slept in the back. Her husband, Oscar (The Pop), was away searching for treasures to bring into their inventory.

For several years, Jen and Oscar Carpinteyro have been salvaging items from estate and yard sales in Orange and Riverside counties. When they lived in Temecula, friends and neighbors would give them their used furniture, appliances and electronics when they moved away. At some point, they decided to start collecting solely electronics. Oscar’s dad would then fix whatever needed fixing, and Oscar would sell the stuff on Ebay. They moved to Los Angeles a couple of years ago, and purchased their current space on Alvarado a few months ago at Oscar’s suggestion.

Their small but lovely space at 1041 North Alvarado Street is stuffed with vintage and newer stereos, speakers, receivers, amps, radios, guitars, pretty much anything you can plug in. And what’s in the store is just a small part of their inventory. It’s one of those places where, if you don’t see it in the store, just ask them if they have it, and they’ll see what they can rustle up for you. They get the hook up from estate sales and get first pick of certain items before the general public. They will also fix your stuff for you, and they do FREE estimates!

They’ll be hosting a grand opening party (featuring Jen’s mom’s taquitos!) in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, you can visit them at the store or find them online on their website, their blog, or on Facebook.

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A New Breed of Pizza in Echo Park

Echo Park is full of pizza options. You can grab any number of interesting slices at Two Boots, cozy up in a booth at Pizza Bouna, or go for quantity over quality at Little Caesars. You can track your pizza order from Domino’s, or go crazy at Pizza Loca, and Masa started a deep dish vegan pizza craze in July. The area is a pizza lovers paradise, and now there are even more options for pizza lovers who are vegan!

Mooi will now be offering four flavors of raw vegan pizza. That means no dairy products are used and nothing is heated over 118 degrees. Mooi’s food is also free of soy, wheat and gluten. This type of cuisine is a healthy option for many but will come as a shock to any hardcore Domino;s fan.

Want a say in this new wave of pizza? Mooi wants the public to create their fourth flavor. They have offered a contest via the blog Quarry Girl. Just leave a comment on the Quarry Girl post suggesting a flavor you would like to see. The winner receives a free dinner for two at Mooi and will see their pizza on the menu!

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Check out Quarry Girl for more information on the new pizza flavors and to enter the contest. Remember, you have to enter on Quarry Girl. Entries on EPN will not be counted in the contest. Leave us a comment here and tell us which Echo Park pizza spot is your favorite or what you think of raw vegan pizza.

Mooi is located at 1700 W. Sunset Blvd

Hours are:

Tuesday – Saturday 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Wednesday – Saturday 6:00pm – 11:00 pm

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Echo Park’s Week in Music

For the week of Monday, August 9 through Sunday, August 15

Monday, August 9
Peter’s Pool Boys & Sean Carnage Presents: Essay, Aunt Dracula, Amir Coyle, plus a very special appearance by Jamaica Man @ Pehrspace
Monday Night Residency: Fol Chen, Learning Music, Lesands @ The Echo
New Music Monday With Devin Sarno, Bobb Bruno, Kandyce And The Killdozer, Howardamb @ Echo Curio
Zoe Muth And The Lost High Rollers, Vagrant Valley, Erin Mclaughlin @ Bootleg

Tuesday, August 10
Smog Sessions: Truth, Machete, Deco, Kemst @ The Echo

Wednesday, August 11
Dub Club: Dub Club DJs, Viernes 13, The Hashishans @ Echoplex and The Echo
The Joy Formidable, Division Day, The Arkells @ Bootleg

Thursday, August 12
Hit + Run presents: Soundcrash with Blu, Blackbird, Thavius Beck, Ras G, Zackey FOrce Funk, Kofi, Teebs, and surprise guests @ The Echo
Social Studies @ Origami Vinyl

Friday, August 13
Club Underground with Torches in Trees, Go West Young Man, Waterlaso @ The Echo
Rooftops @ Origami Vinyl
Opening of the Photobug Exhibition plus the works Of Styles Wolff Baker @ Echo Curio

Saturday, August 14
Ema and the Ghosts Birthday Show @ Pehrspace
Hercules and Love Affair, DJ Paul V. @ Echoplex
Funky Sole @ The Echo
Heather Woodbury’s As the Globe Warms, followed by John Hearts Jackie, The Clouds, Children Of The Kai, Alyssyndra and the Day Makers @ Echo Curio

Sunday, August 15
When You Awake presents Free For All @ Echoplex
Part Time Punks with Swahili Blonde + Black Flamingo @ The Echo
From Vision To Vinyl: A Step-By-Step Look At Album Production. Panel Discussion + Q&A. To attend email RSVPOrigami@gmail.com by August 12th @ Origami Vinyl
Echo Obscura Presents Andy Warhol Films @ Echo Curio

For more information on weekly musical events like club nights, see our community resource pages.Visit the venue website for more information on the cost and times of shows. Venue information can be found in our community resource pages.

This list may not represent all the musical events happening in Echo Park this week – feel free to add more events in the comment section. All events listed are subject to change at any time. New events announced for the week after this posting may not be included.

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CSA comes to Echo Park

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is coming to Echo Park starting next week! With a $25.00 per week subscription (or every other week, your choice), CSA will drop off locally grown produce for you to pack up in your own bag (and don’t forget to bring your own bag!).

Included in “this week’s bag” according to the CSA website are: Plums, nectarines, peaches, red leaf or romaine lettuce, broccoli, bell pepper, celery, green beans, cabbage, tomatoes, kale. Next week might be different, but it doesn’t sound like you’ll lose out.

If you’re interested, make sure you sign up right away – policies require you pay 48 hours in advance or you’ll have to wait until the following week.

CSA comes to Echo Park every Tuesday starting Tuesday, August 17 from 3-5:00 pm at Mooi Restaurant (1700 W. Sunset Blvd.) Click here to pay for your bag of locally grown produce on the CSA website.

Now if you don’t want to subscribe to CSA, there’s always the Echo Park Farmers’ Market on Fridays, which has locally grown produce, and later this summer Cookbook grocery store will open.

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A huge difference at Echo Park Lake yesterday

Walking around Echo Park Lake yesterday was an experience residents haven’t seen in quite a while on a Sunday: green grass occupied by picnickers, families, and a few necking lovebirds. The northern end of Echo Park Lake was really, really quiet with the exception of the occasional jingle from an ice cream cart bell. It seems that word got around after last week’s “crack-down” at Echo Park Lake, during which officers cited vendors for soliciting on public property. Even though just a few citations were issued, it certainly had an effect.

Residents and The Eastsider LA reported yesterday that a few Rampart Division patrol cars and officers had posted up throughout the day on various corners of the Lake. They were ready to enforce not a soliciting on public property violation like last week (which it seems may not be entirely and legally applicable), but for those who didn’t have resale licenses. Deputy City Attorney Andre Quintero seemed a bit surprised at Thursday night’s Echo Park Improvement Association meeting when told about the previous Sunday’s activity. Having worked on this issues for about a year now (in relation to the city law that was overturned when Venice Beach activists sued for free speech violations), he wasn’t sure whether or not a soliciting on public property violation applied to the Echo Park Lake vendors.

Those who have been actively working on clearing the vendors from Echo Park Lake on Sunday are relieved to “have the park back.” Other residents might have mixed feelings about losing the vendors from the Lake because, really, who cares if someone’s trying to make a buck in this economy? But arguments seem to always come down to one thing: It’s a lake, it’s a park, and that’s what it should be used for.

I recommend taking a gander through the article published yesterday by The Eastsider LA, and decide for yourself whether or not it’s a good thing to cite vendors at the lake.

Related articles:

  • “Police try a new strategy to sweep out Echo Park Lake swap meet vendors.” August 8, 2010, The Eastsider LA
  • “Vendors at Echo Park Lake get the boot.” August 1, 2010, Echo Park Now
  • “The many facets of the Echo Park Lake swap meet.” March 24, 1010, Echo Park Now
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Photo: No hipsters here…

…or very few of them, we mean. Instead, there are a few more long-haired, black band-tshirt-clad people (of the metal kind, as opposed to the hipster kind) in Echo Park than usual today – the Echo kicked off its metal fest, “The Power of the Riff,” today at both the Echo and the Echoplex. There was a long wait earlier, but things seem to be pretty much kept inside for the time being.

TwitPic photo via TheEchoLA

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Sunday: Dog Adoption and Fundraiser at Fix Coffee

The Bark Avenue Foundation is hosting a “Pit Bull Awareness, Adoption and Fundraiser” event at Fix Coffee this Sunday, from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. Bark Avenue will be bringing some of their pit bulls that are up for adoption, and others are invited to bring their own dog-friendly pits. They have planned a raffle in addition to providing information on pit bull awareness.

Fix Coffee is located at 2100 Echo Park Ave.

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Flashback Fridays – Historic Filipinotown

Francisco Carino – Intro from Public Matters on Vimeo.

Various arguments have been made (and are still being made) as to whether Historic Filipinotown is its own neighborhood or whether it belongs to either Echo Park or the Temple/Beverly neighborhood. It is part of the Thirteenth District and was officially designated Historic Filipinotown in 2002. I recently found some cool videos all about HiFi, and thought I’d look into its history. Perhaps you would like to hear a bit about what I found out?

The first big wave of Filipino immigration into the United States occurred in the 1920s when the Philippines was a U.S. territory. The first substantial Filipino community in Los Angeles formed around this time in what is now Little Tokyo. Later, in the 1930s and 40s, the location of this community shifted to what is today Historic Filipinotown.

Neighborhoods like these formed as a result of housing and job discrimination that prevented Filipinos from living and working just anywhere. It wasn’t until the 1940s that laws against racially mixed marriages were overturned and housing discrimination was declared illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court. The irony of this discrimination is that, the Philippines being a U.S. territory, many immigrants had already been taught English and American History in their homeland before they even got here.

In 1965, the Immigration Act nullified immigration quotas, and a larger number of non-western immigrants came to the United States. At the same time, another area of Los Angeles with a large Filipino population, Bunker Hill, began the shift from a residential to a commercial area, and many residents were forced out. All of this resulted in a population boom for Historic Filipintown. The result was the creation of a neighborhood that today is the keeper of an important part of Filipino and Los Angeles immigrant history.

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