[It ain’t Radiohead – which raised over half a million dollars at its Haiti relief benefit on Sunday night at the Fonda – but here’s tonight abbreviated show menu:] It’ll be their last SoCal appearance before Coachella – San Francisco quartet Girls [pictured in August at the El Rey Theatre], still getting all kinds of […]
Stellar songstresses back-to-back tonight at the Hotel Cafe – first it’s Azure Ray’s Maria Taylor [pictured], abetted by Brandon Walters, followed by Jesca Hoop. … There’s a full plate of residencies – Year Long Disaster (with It’s Casual) at Spaceland, the Northstar Session (with David George) at the Bootleg Theater, the French Semester (with the Monolators, […]
Just 10 months after the release of its sophomore album “Good Friends Only I Can See,” L.A. five-piece the French Semester returned in December with a new EP, “Forces Afield.” That makes two EPs and two full-lengths in two years, so give them points for productivity, anyway. The quintet’s understated but engaging folk-pop seems to […]
[Happy new year, everybody. Buzz Bands was away on some vocab rehab for a couple of weeks, but now we return to help you lurch – did I say lurch? I meant ease – into a new decade. I hope to have some changes in the coming weeks; for now, get your year off to […]
[Things I noticed while wondering why Willie Nelson’s show tonight at Club Nokia isn’t sold out …] ’Tis the season for benefit shows and Christmas music. But first, a word from two SoCal bands who are releasing new EPs in time for the holidays. Parade of Lights celebrates its self-titled debut with a show at […]
[Hey, the Internet tells me it’s Teddy Geiger’s 21st birthday today. If he’s around town, I would surely buy him that first legal drink …] A gorgeous night for music under the stars? Looks like it. The Killers play to a sold-out Hollywood Bowl, while the Greek Theatre bill has pop fans salivating – Phoenix […]
The 88 have begun work on the follow-up to its third album “Not Only … But Also,” which helped get them picked up by Island Records last year. There are few finer purveyors of power-pop around, and the L.A. quartet this month is doing something of a return to its roots – a Tuesday night […]
[Folks, today is 07/08/09, and maybe a numerologist could explain it to me, but I remember have a distinctly crappy 06/07/08 and 05/06/07. So I might not get out of bed today, even to wish Beck a happy 39th birthday.] The acclaimed Brooklyn avant-pop group Dirty Projectors hit town tonight behind their new release “Bitte […]
[Happy July … and happy birthday, Debbie Harry.] Dangerbird Records artists Eulogies [pictured] and Bad Veins head up the bill for a night at the Echo that benefits the Pablove Foundation [see yesterday’s post]. … At the Troubadour, Bill Callahan (ex-Smog) is joined by Drag City labelmates” Bachelorette. … Excellent lineup of local indie-pop bands at […]
[It’s Kanye West’s birthday, and I wonder what you’d get a guy who has his own line of limited-edition glow-in-the-dark sneakers.] Can’t think of another album from this year that has been a more slam-dunk mood elevator that Metric’s “Fantasies.” The Canadian-bred band, who seem to have had more homes that an Army brat (they […]
