The weekend’s top 4 shows starring L.A. people who give us a warm-and-fuzzy: ‣ Avi Buffalo, back from a long tour or three, headlines the Echoplex tonight. ‣ Shadow Shadow Shade (pictured) ramps up its affecting, cinematic pop tonight at the Echo. ‣ Daedelus and the Gaslamp Killer represent for the beat scene when they […]
In “Fields of Green,” the first song on the new Giant Sand album “Blurry Blue Mountain,” legendary desert-rock explorer Howe Gelb muses about being over 50, and those inevitable times he is sought out as some sort of swami: “I tell them with a crinkled smile / and a smoldering spark eyed glisten / to […]
It’s no surprise that Pepper Rabbit has charmed the socks off indie-pop fans this year – not if you’re heard the L.A. duo’s debut album “Beauregard,” and especially not if you’ve seen frontman Xander Singh’s instrument-juggling during his live shows. What’s remarkable is that, after releasing two EPs in 2009 and “Beauregard” last month on […]
Top 3 local shows on a good night for them: ‣ If you liked their album “Terrible Town” [and we did], you’re going to like Olin and the Moon’s follow-up “Footsteps” even more. The Idaho-bred, L.A.-based purveyors of sweet Americana have a new album coming in the new year, and the quintet will be playing […]
Wet & Reckless, the L.A. quartet of Emily Wilder, Whitney Blank, Jessica Gelt and Deanna deVries, has been added to the bill for Saturday’s “A Night With Buzz Bands LA” show at Spaceland. The foursome, who recently wrapped up an October residency at the Silverlake Lounge, replaces Teddy Geiger, who had to cancel because of […]
The White Buffalo is the apt alter-ego of Jake Smith, a southern California native with a mammoth presence, and an even bigger voice. Smith has toured with Ziggy Marley and performed hundreds of self-penned songs worldwide, despite having put out only one self-recorded EP before this month’s release of “Prepare for Black & Blue” (Ruff […]
Top 3 shows to improve your possibly flagging midweek disposition: ‣ NYC indie-pop quartet Bear Hands [pictured] are pals of MGMT whose debut album “Burning Bush Supper Club” is full of downright infectious tunes. They headline Spaceland with Cantora Records labelmates Rumspringa. ‣ Fitz & the Tantrums wind down an amazing year by playing to […]
Dear Rumspringa: I keep waiting for something to click between you and me, but it just hasn’t happened. I feel like it should, so many of my friends are in your corner and keep telling me that if I like psych-rock (and I do) and blues-rock (and I do), I should be keen on your […]
Whatever shape her solo music ended up taking, Morgan Kibby was determined not to play to expectations. “I’m a woman who plays keyboards, and there’s the whole Tori Amos sensibility,” says Kibby, the singer-keyboardist who joined French popgazers M83 for their last album “Saturdays = Youth.” “I know I could have written the girl-at-a-piano record, […]
Freelance Whales’ debut album “Weathervanes” oozes with affected chamber-pop and synthy, sugary charm. But the hard-touring New Yorkers’ latest single, “Enzymes” – recorded for the soft drink-sponsored imprint Green Label Sound – reveals a more seasoned approach both lyrically and thematically. Written on a laptop as an exercise in time signatures, “Enzymes” finds the band […]
