By Laura Ferreiro It’s a lamentably rare thing to find a band that exudes chemistry and adeptly performs uniquely experimental yet danceable tunes. Menomena achieved all this and more during their show at the El Rey Theatre on Thursday night. The Portland, Ore., trio – augmented to a four-piece with the addition of touring guitarist […]
Hollywoody quartet the Dance Party makes the kind ’70s-leaning synth-rock that past generations used to take right up the nose. And who knows, maybe they still do, but the foursome, fronted by singer-schoolteacher (now there’s an alter ego) Mick Coogan, have dialed into to a pretty undeniable party vibe, executed more with a smile than […]
For Funeral Party, the young East L.A. dance-punks who seem ready to take the world by storm, the wait must be agonizing. The band turned heads in late 2008, toured supporting the likes of Trail of Dead and Julian Casablancas and finished an album bearing the studio fingerprints of Lars Stalfors (the Mars Volta) and […]
If you’re of a certain generation – like, if you ran to your 45rpm of “Without You” every time a girl rejected you in high school – it’s impossible not to get choked up a few times during the documentary “Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?” Writer-director John Scheinfeld’s film […]
By Addy Danti AA Bondy proved himself once again Wednesday night, wielding his low-slung Guild Starfire guitar and his high-class honesty to deliver an hourlong set of captivating songs to a receptive Spaceland crowd. Backed by two understated multi-instrumentalists (Ben Lester on pedal steel and drums, Macy Taylor on keyboards and bass), the Southern-bred troubadour […]
Few community festivals outside of Silver Lake can boast a better music lineup that this weekend’s edition of Lobsterfest at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro. Oh, the waterfront affair still has a family-friendly vibe – it’s just that thanks to music curator Mark Sovel, the former music director of the sorely missed […]
[It’s one busy show-going weekend. Again.] Top 6 places to be in you’re into supporting your neighborhood bands: ‣ The Parson Red Heads, the psych-pop band who moved from Oregon to L.A. band five years ago, are moving back to Oregon next month. They headline Spaceland tonight, with Le Switch and the World Record supporting, […]
The Lonely Forest – the first signing to the Trans label launched by Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie – debuted their first batch of Walla-produced music this week, a digital-only EP of beautiful piano-driven rock. It has a lot going for it – sweeping arrangements crash in and out behind addictive melodies and […]
A few years back I wrote a short piece about an actress-turned-songwriter, her debut album and a lost guitar that was found again. The name on the album was Emma Burgess, but the person holding the guitar was Brandi Emma, who has returned to her given name and resumed making music, thanks to a bit […]
Funny thing happened some time after Silver Lake faves Mezzanine Owls went on (what now looks like permanent) hiatus in late 2008: Frontman Jack Burnside was asked to play a show opening for Swervedriver’s Adam Franklin. “I thought he was playing solo,” Burnside says, “but when I learned he had a band, I thought I […]
