[New from a couple of Los Angeles bands:] You know how hard it is to get decent tones out of your cymbals under water? Leave it to the guys in the Bronx to figure it out. Just watch out for the stage-diving shark. (Shot in a friend’s pool in the U.K., this is the video […]
So much music, so little time. I’ve fallen woefully behind when it comes to acknowledging non-album releases (EPs and singles) from L.A. bands, so this edition of the Buzzsicle will make a dent in that. Buzzsicle 5 is an hour’s worth of music – 16 songs that have caught my ear in the past few […]
[We bid April adieu with fond birthday wishes for Willie Nelson …] Quite a night in the city, starting with the sold-out Pablove Foundation benefit at the Echoplex, which will be emceed by Shirley Manson and features Silversun Pickups and Eulogies. … Upstairs at the Echo, it’s a special occasion for two local bands – […]
More on the album when it lands in my mailbox, but for now here is the music video for His Orchestra’s “Black Coffin.” It’s directed by Leah McKissock, with cinematography by Aaron Lavinsky and choreography by Kristin Rapinchuk. The six-piece band, fronted by Douglas Smith (Ben Henrickson on “Big Love”), recently released its debut, “Field […]
On its new EP “Seven Days Now,” L.A. septet Xu Xu Fang continues its explorations in ambient shoegaze, the kind of contemplative psychedelia made for shadows, smoke machines and patient listeners. Included: “Your Way,” which was used on “Gossip Girl” this week, and a stoner cover of the Cure’s “Fascination Street.” Not to mention the […]
[Serving up birthday greetings today to Master P. Now for a busy night on the club circuit …] She won me as a fan as South by Southwest, and now Thao Nguyen – that’s Thao With the Get Down Stay Down to the uninitiated – hits the Hotel Cafe for a big show with Samantha […]
Great Northern, “Remind Me Where the Light Is” (Eenie Meenie, today) – Solon Bixler and Rachel Stolte have bad dreams and big dreams, and both are embodied on their sophomore album. Their fears are framed meticulously – though more musically than lyrically – in their shimmering arrangements and soaring melodies, and just when you think […]
[Happy birthday to Kim Gordon. And happy Tuesday to you …] Tinted Windows, the seemingly unlikely conflagration of Taylor Hanson (Hanson), Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne), James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins) and Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Track), hits town for a sold-out show at the Troubadour tonight. Tinted Windows’ debut album, out last week, doesn’t exactly […]
Silversun Pickups, along with Dangerbird Records labelmates Eulogies, will play a benefit concert Thursday at the Echoplex in support of the Pablove Foundation, which funds cancer research and support activities for cancer patients. The foundation is named for Pablo Castelaz, the 5-year-old son of Dangerbird co-founder Jeff Castelaz. A year ago Pablo was diagnosed with […]
Castledoor’s first album is titled “Shouting at Mountains,” but members of the Los Angeles sextet had to feel as if they were climbing them the past three years. After they arrived on the scene with a winsome tune and a smile, Castledoor’s career has proceeded by fits and starts, with two EPs (“‘Til We Sink” […]
