2016: Seven albums we should have told you about sooner
Kevin Bronson on
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Buzz Bands LA did posts on approximately 500 Los Angeles artists in 2016, yet we missed a lot. Inevitably we spend some time at the end of the year beating ourselves up over some of the music we missed. So we took some inventory and did some clicking around — and below are short introductions to some of the albums we shoulda/coulda/woulda covered (if, maybe, we didn’t sleep, or had a staff of 12):
Slow Talker, “Slow Talker”
How promising 2016 must have looked way back on New Year’s Day, when Slow Talker — singer-guitarist Leah Korbin along with Joshue Stuebe, Jordan Korn and Alex Sherman — released their self-titled full-length. It’s a brooding, rhythmically challenging collection of brooding rockers, recalling some of the boundary-pushing indie artists of the ’90s and highlighted by Korbin’s sharp lyrics. [Listen via Spotify]
||| Stream: “Running Late”
||| Watch: The video for “Mannequin”
Mirror Days, “No Hope for Getting Better”
Graham Harrington, the Michigan-bred songwriter/multi-instrumentalist who does business as Mirror Days, seemingly vanished after promising his “Solstice” EP in late 2014, but he was merely reloading. “No Hope for Getting Better” showcases his lush, ambient dream-pop and sweet shoegazing. [Listen via Spotify]
||| Stream: “Endless”
Forniquette, “Forniquette”
Bawdy, naughty and sounding like a big band on a bender, Forniquette is the brainchild of singer-songwriter Jim Bianco, the longtime Hotel Café rapscallion. Over 34 breathtaking and horn-filled minutes, the “12-piece brothel band” (his words) will make you feel like you’re in another time and place. And maybe about to get lucky. (He’s doing it live, with dancers, on Feb. 4.) [Listen via Spotify]
||| Stream: The full album
Anna Schulze, “Pickford Market”
Schulze, a Minnesota native educated at USC, released her debut full-length in May, a collection of smart, spry alt-rock/power-pop with songs about moving on, moving up and being trapped in a noisy Silver Lake apartment when it’s a million degrees outside. Fans of artists such as Juliana Hatfield and Liz Phair should tune in. [Listen via Spotify]
||| Stream: “Get Me Out of Here” and “Closer”
Fernando Perdomo, “Voyeurs”
Perdomo, a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, in-demand session player and producer (who helms Reseda Ranch Studios), has collaborated with artists big (for instance, he played in the band at “Echo in the Canyon” last year) and not-so-big. His album “Voyeurs” was recorded live — and in front of an audience streaming the process on Facebook. File under: adroitly done classic rock. [Listen via Spotify]
||| Stream: “Angel”
||| Watch: The video for “The One You Run To”
Bassett, “Ghost Hwy”
The full-length from the duo of singer-multi-instrumentalist Josh Bassett and bassist Taz Ozaki features desert-baked psychedelic blues and trippy folk excursions, perfect for your next journey into the Joshua Tree wilderness. [Listen via Spotify]
||| Stream: “Away”
||| Watch: The video for “Ghost Hwy”
Shane Alexander, “Bliss”
We’ve followed Alexander since the early ’00s and his days in the local band Damone (which ended with their making a nice chunk of cash by selling the band name to a major label). Since his solo debut in 2004, Alexander has rarely disappointed; “Bliss” is his sixth full-length of warm, finely crafted folk and folk-rock. Oh, that voice. [Listen via Spotify]
||| Stream: “Evergreen”
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