A huge Friday night for lovers of huge Friday nights: ‣ The reunited Afghan Whigs, winding up their first U.S. tour in 13 years, do the first of two sold-out night at the Fonda Theatre. Van Hunt opens. ‣ The resurgent ”¦ And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead rocks the Echoplex […]
The way that L.A. trio American Royalty fuses rock and electronica feels like a dialogue. Certainly, the new song “Honey & Queen” has that vibe – a conversation between crazy rhythms, video-game vocals, tooting synths and druggy guitars. It’s a song Marc Gilfry, Billy Scher and Mat Ungson wrote during their July residency at the […]
Filter magazine’s Culture Collide festival kicked off in earnest Thursday night in Echo Park, offering a sampler platter of international flavors that – musically, anyway – tasted generally pretty familiar. To that end, we offer something we’ll call Random Encounters of the Festival Kind: Highlight of the night “I never thought L.A. wasn’t big enough […]
Nite Jewel, joined by Slow Magic, Living Things, American Royalty, Them Jeans, DWNTWN and Aaron Embry, among others, heads up the musical lineup for this year’s Abbot Kinney Festival, going off Sunday in Venice. Nite Jewel (that’s her video for “Clive,” above) is riding high on the release of her album “One Second of Love” […]
Another mucho Monday: ‣ Jean-Philip Grobler – the Johannesberg, South Africa-born, Brooklyn-based electro-pop artist known as St. Lucia – heads up the lineup at the RSVP-only It’s a School Night at Bardot, where Sonnymoon and Pony Boy also perform and promoters promise some “secret headliners” to make it all real special. Above, St. Lucia’s video […]
Monday’s fun: ‣ American Royalty’s residency at the Echo has been going great guns, and tonight the L.A. trio is joined by late addition Sahy Uhns, as well as Ahh G and zAK-MATIC. That’s American Royalty’s video for “Blood Keys,” above. ‣ Terraplane Sun continues its residency at the Satellite, with support from the Mowgli’s, […]
Happy Monday (we think): ‣ Huge night at It’s a School Night at Bardot: Brooklyn duo MS MR make their L.A. debut – that’s their video for “Hurricane,” above, a song that will be released this week as a 7-inch single via IAMSOUND Records. Plus, local rockers Of Verona will be celebrating the release of […]
For your first Monday in July: ‣ Could it be a night of magic at the Hollywood Bowl? Actually, the first of three nights. Pop icon Barry Manilow joins the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the Hollywood Bowl’s annual tribute to the red, white and blue, with Manilow’s hits, patriotic music and fireworks. ‣ The opening […]
American Royalty have always been good at slamming rock and electronica together. “Lately” from their debut “El Ardemo” EP featured an interesting wrestling match between the blues and synth-pop, and their new “Matchstick” EP (out this week on vinyl, next week digitally via Guns in the Sun Records) doesn’t stray far from mashing the unlikely […]
T.G.I.F., everyone, and here’s what we have to be thankful for. Musically. ‣Ben Gibbard & Co., a.k.a. Death Cab For Cutie, will be coding and keying at the Fox Theater in Pomona along with Zach Rogue’s (of Rogue Wave) new project, Release the Sunbird. ‣It’s worthy cause-time, and tonight’s cause is funding music programs in schools. “A […]
