With her sultry flair that isn’t far from the smooth sounds that make both Sade and Billie Holiday so appealing, songstress Hindi Zahra has been gaining fans among critics – acquiring the Prix Constantin (France’s Mercury Prize) in 2010 – and listeners of folk, jazz and soul since her self-titled EP in 2009. Zahra now […]
Christian Velky started Good Luck Bear as a solo project about five years ago, but his melody-rich pop seemed to find its full sound when Hoyt Adams and Leonard Tucker joined the lineup. The trio now boasts an album titled “The Nearest Faraway Place,” which includes indie rock tunes influenced by everything form surf-pop to […]
The New Division’s debut album “Shadows” (out this week) has its share of dark places, some more menacing than others, and all of which fly the black flags planted long ago by the likes of Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk and Gary Numan. The Riverside quartet of John Kunkel, Michael Janz, Brock Woolsey and Mark Michalski arrived […]
The beautifully haunting harmonies of the Chapin Sisters (who now consist of Lily and Abigail Chapin) first floated onto the scene when they released their “Oh, Hear the Wind Blow” EP and their debut full-length “Two” shortly after during 2010. They’ve taken some time off after the departure of member (and half-sister) Jessica Craven. However, […]
Wednesday’s show offerings: ‣ Swedish singer-songwriter Jens Lekman visits the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever behind his new EP for Secretly Canadian, “An Argument With Myself.” ||| Download: “An Argument With Myself” [audio:http://www.scjag.com/mp3/sc/argument.mp3] ‣ It’s be a night of fun electro at the Bootleg Theater, where Neon Indian and Com Truise perform. That’s the video […]
The Cure are taking the “album concert” to another level. The Goth forerunners are planning a “Relections” tour on which they will play their first three albums in their entirety at each show, followed by an encore of other favorites. The Los Angeles dates are Nov. 21, 22 and 23 at the Pantages Theatre, and […]
Robert Fleming could probably recommend a good cabernet, or wax poetic on the bouquet of that 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, but it’s what’s fermenting in his Silver Lake bedroom that’s equally tasty. The 28-year-old singer-songwriter (day job: the wine industry) makes music under the name Victory, and his first one-man excursion into pop territory is an […]
Busy Tuesday for legends as well as locals: ‣ Emmylou Harris and Her Red Dirt Boys headline the Greek Theatre, with Patty Griffin and Buddy Miller supporting. Harris’ 21st album, “Hard Bargain,” came out in April. ‣ Steve Earle and the Dukes visit the House of Blues. Earle’s new album “I’ll Never Get Out of […]
Jonathan Bates’ formidable foray into electronica – chronicled in our posts on “Huggin & a Kissin” and “Capsize” – comes to fruition this week with the release of his project Big Black Delta’s “BBDLP1” (in very pretty vinyl, apparently). The former Mellowdrone frontman’s bombastic take on ’80s synth-pop has turned more than a few ears […]
Sleeper Agent’s elastic garage-pop seems transported from another era, before anybody needed face paint or glowsticks to have a good party. The sextet out of Bowling Green, Ky., fuses rubber-band guitar riffs, pogoing-ready rhythms and shout-along choruses in a delirious collision of pop hooks and rock attitude. Thankfully, singer Alex Kandel and bandmates Justin Wilson, […]
