In the first song on Harriet’s debut EP, the audaciously titled “I Slept With All Your Mothers,” you can almost feel Alex Casnoff releasing his pent-up frustration. Casnoff, who spent the past couple of years playing in L.A. bands Dawes and Papa, has struck out on his own as Harriet (the band name honors his […]
The Peach Kings shape the kind of music that’ll make you break out in a sweat, and then maybe blow softly on the back of your neck to cool things down again. The Bay Area-bred, L.A.-based duo of Paige Wood and Steven Trezevant join a long list of two-pieces rooting around in the blues, folk […]
[Recent remixes that have tickled our ears … ] The Big Pink, “Stay Gold (araabMUZIK remix)” – The single “Stay Gold” from the U.K. duo’s forthcoming album “Future This” (out January 2012 via 4AD) packs in an extra noteworthy punch by way of producer AraabMuzik. Even with the hip hop influences, this remix reminds shoegazers […]
‣ Cass McCombs winds down a busy and profilic year when the folk singer and his band play the Echo behind his new album “Humor Risk,” the second full-length he’s released in 2011. That’s Albert Herter’s video for “The Same Thing,” above. White Magic supports. ‣ At the Bootleg, Duniven celebrates the release of its […]
Singer-songwriter Matthew Kaner owes it all to wine – well, his band name Liquid Love Letter, anyway, not to mention his alliances with many of the people who inspired and collaborated on LLL’s debut album “If/Then,” released today. The seeds of Kaner’s earnest, finely honed Americana, which recalls a duskier Grant-Lee Phillips, were planted when […]
Leave it to a white boy from Chewelah, Wash., with nerdy red glasses to disguise a letter addressing politics as a love song in the style of D’Angelo. In fact, it wouldn’t be a surprise if a first-time listener already mistook 24-year-old Allen Stone for the infamous soul singer. But even with heavy influences that […]
Seamless harmonies and soft pop melodies are difficult to deny when they’re delivered with such grace, and that’s exactly the case with L.A. band the Young Romans. Pianist Brad Hooks and guitarist Sari Mellafe trade in the kind of shimmering riffs and vocal interplay that appeal to pop sophisticates and romantics alike. Their 2010 “Yesterday […]
‣ Rachel Yamagata headlines a sold-out Troubadour behind her first release in three years, “Chesapeake.” Mike Viola, who released his own new album “Electro de Perfecto” in September, opens. That’s Yamagata’s video for “Even If I Don’t,” above. ‣ Sting does a second night at the Wiltern. ‣ Downtown/Union rocks the Echo behind its new […]
If the nimble guitar work doesn’t get you, the falsetto will. And if those don’t work, give in to the hook, and the beats. Yes, they’re all in four minutes’ work for Flora & Fauna, the new L.A. quartet whose early songs seem equally beholden to post-punk and soul-pop. The foursome of Matt Bernstein, Adam […]
A more eclectic lineup you would be hard-pressed to find: The Quick Hellos, 7Horse, Frankel and Jack Burnside join the fun on Dec. 13 at Buzz Bands LA’s SecondTuesday songwriter night at Lot 1 Cafe in Echo Park. The Quick Hellos’ acoustic set will come courtesy of ukulele-wielding Dan Crane and Glen Martin from the […]
