Stolen Lyric #72
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[Our weekly Stolen Lyric:] ||| Source: Jamie Lidell, “Compass” ||| Live: Jamie Lidell plays Saturday at the El Rey Theatre.
Ears Wide Open: Telegram
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The L.A. quartet Telegram might not be on your radar yet – they’ve played only one proper show – but fans of shimmering, anthemic rock will find them soon enough. They’re releasing three three-song EPs (recorded with Andrew Prickett and Barrett Slagle) with titles that sound like Dick and Jane primers but, the band explains, […]
Download: Blonde Redhead, ‘Here Sometimes’
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That collective ah-ha you heard this morning emanated from those geeks (ahem, yes, us) who were watching their e-mail when the new song from Blonde Redhead landed. The fuzzy, shoegazey, dream-poppy purveyors of all things ethereal and blurry – did I miss any descriptors? – unveiled a new song, the first since “23” landed atop […]
City Museum, soon to become an artifact
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File under Personal Memorandums: City Museum were never much of a threat to be next-big-things – except at co-founder Jeff Miller’s annual backyard party – but like a lot of Los Angeles bands piloted by people from all walks of life, they embraced their music with passion, humility and humor. With singer-guitarist Kevin Flinn moving […]
This weekend: The Whigs/Everest, Active Child, Make Music Pasadena, the Like, Rooney, Janelle Monae
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[Sources say that Stephen Chen of the Airborne Toxic Event celebrates a birthday today. Meanwhile, Buzz Bands stumbles toward a busy weekend, completely in the mood for this DIY video from Sea of Bees’ Julie Baenziger for her songs “Gnomes”:] Top 5 reasons to solstice your summer a bit early this weekend: ‣ It’s a […]
Video: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, ‘Say No to Love’
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Stereogum, which premiered the video for the new Pains of Being Pure at Heart single, “Say No to Love,” described it as “just your average sunny twee-pop afternoon.” Couldn’t have said it better. It brightened mine, and maybe it will yours too. The single is out on Slumberland.
Fitz & the Tantrums: Finding plenty of soul mates
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For all the serendipity that ignited the flame that is Fitz & the Tantrums, it’s the years of dues-paying that put frontman Michael Sean Fitzpatrick in his enviable position as the next hot soul man. Fitzpatrick, who presides over the blue-eyed, skinny-tied retro-pop that’s tugged at the hips and the heartstrings of audiences everywhere, only […]
Download: Sea of Bees, ‘Marmalade’
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Took me about 50 seconds – the length of the woozy, haunting intro to “Marmalade” – to completely fall for Sea of Bees, the nom de tune of Sacramento indie-popper Julie Baenziger. Her debut album “Songs for the Ravens” sounds folky in some places, gauzy and ambient in others and twee as hell in still […]
Gallery: Abandoned Pools, Vanaprasta, Chasing Kings, Judson & Mary at a Night With Buzz Bands LA
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Even with frontman Tommy Walter [pictured at top] a bit under the weather, Abandoned Pools’ comeback show on Tuesday night at Spaceland was strong. The L.A. quartet, playing live for the first time in five years, sprinkled in some new material with songs from their 2001 and 2005 albums, highlighting a Buzz Bands LA-hosted evening […]
Tonight in L.A.: Matt Pond PA, Fitz & the Tantrums
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Top 4 post-NBA Finals excursions that don’t involve hooliganism: ‣ When Alex Brown Church launched his Sea Wolf project in 2007, I was struck by how similar his aesthetic was to one of my longtime favorites, Matt Pond PA. After hearing Pond’s eighth album, I’m convinced there ought to be some indie-folk cage match. Or […]
