There is Michael Quattlebaum, he, a cross-dressing half-Jewish gay black man performance artist and poet; and there is Mykki Blanco, she, the fierce female acid punk rapper alter ego, who shows multiple sides of her persona on the eclectic eight-track EP, “‘Betty Rubble: The Initiation.” She has stated her four role models are GG Allin, […]
By Seraphina Lotkhamnga It’s been a great year of music. My ears have had such a good year that the task of selecting my top albums has never been harder. Perhaps it’s because I’ve whittled down my usual list of 25 albums to 20 this year. Some artists on this list made their L.A. debuts […]
[Auckland, New Zealand-based writer Keith Shackleton, an occasional contributor to Buzz Bands LA, is a native of the U.K. who was around for The Beat – known as The English Beat in the U.S. – and all the other music he discusses in this essay:] By Keith Shackleton Late-’70s British post-punk music can be characterized by […]
Besides its obvious charms – agile melodies, caffeinated percussion and twinkling keyboards – the debut album from Soft Swells feels like a pep talk from an old friend. It’s full of polite but candid imperatives. “Say It Like You Mean It.” “Put It on the Line.” “Shake It Off.” “Never Leave Home.” “Make It Go […]
Midway through the Jealous Sound’s comeback album “A Gentle Reminder,” singer-guitarist Blair Shehan sings optimistically, “This is happening.” Fans of the L.A. quartet’s breakthrough “Kill Them With Kindness,” selected one of SPIN’s best albums of 2003, will hardly believe it. After the eight years, the Jealous Sound is back, shedding baggage, embracing the future and […]
I’ll remember 2011 as a year with more good music than I had time to devote to it. Because my primary focus is music emerging from SoCal – and because there was so much of it this year – I found myself taking only passing interest in many hyped albums … and not finding a […]
[It’s Buzz Bands LA staff writer Seraphina L’s turn to share a year-end list …] By Seraphina Lotkhamnga Choosing one’s favorite albums of the year is always a daunting task, and it’s even worse when you have to whittle your list down to 25. Here are my thoughts on 2011 albums (local and non-local), and […]
An abundance of excellent music came my way from the SoCal community in 2011. My favorite 20 albums follow, with some special mentions/recommendations beyond that. It was an especially rich year for folk-rock and singer-songwriter albums, not so much for hard rock. Most of the nouveau electro and experimental releases left me cold. I didn’t […]
The Los Angeles underground has always been a sprawling, gnarly place, and a new collection titled “Beat L.A.” goes where few covers albums have gone before. The project – from Narnack Records and Greatmind Records – is a charity effort benefiting Doctors Without Borders and that organization’s relief efforts in earthquake-torn Haiti. The compilation (out […]
When Lykke Li’s artsy electro-pop landed stateside in 2008, those looking for new but accessible sounds immediately fell head over heels for the adorable Swedish singer-songwriter. Li was only 19 years old when she recorded her debut, “Youth Novel,” and as the title suggests, there was a thread of young hope stringing together songs that […]
